Graphic Packaging’s (GPK) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Citigroup

Citigroup restated their neutral rating on shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has a $30.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $33.00.

GPK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE GPK opened at $26.71 on Monday. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $23.47 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.54.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.09%.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 32,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.8% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 54,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 42,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Graphic Packaging

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.