Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $19.05 and last traded at $19.17, with a volume of 347531 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.73 and its 200 day moving average is $22.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90, a P/E/G ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.76.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,479.80. This represents a 20.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total transaction of $681,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 255,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,798,212.16. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 93,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,663 in the last ninety days. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 48.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 234,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,949,000 after acquiring an additional 76,226 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth about $2,415,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.9% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 71,049 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 96.1% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,527 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 138.8% during the 2nd quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 75,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 43,992 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.