Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.70.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GPK shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $27.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.51. Graphic Packaging has a 1 year low of $23.47 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 160,726 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,756,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Advisors LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.2% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 20,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 10,536 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.