Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Bought by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,703 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC owned about 0.08% of Graphic Packaging worth $6,149,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 24.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,800,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $437,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,927,344 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,545,000 after purchasing an additional 302,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,642,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock opened at $27.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.61. The company has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GPK. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

Insider Activity

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value 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 approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.