MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 6,701 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 155,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,701 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $4,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 546.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 46.3% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $30.09 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.43. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 17.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GPK shares. Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Profile

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging.