Robert W. Baird Cuts Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Price Target to $32.00

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Robert W. Baird from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.45% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also commented on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock opened at $26.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $23.47 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,545,000 after buying an additional 302,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% 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.