Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC cut its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 21.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,766 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 21,469 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,120,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GPK shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging 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 target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 3.9 %

NYSE GPK opened at $27.74 on Friday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.39. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $25.13 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. 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 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

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.