Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Short Interest Update

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,080,000 shares, an increase of 11.4% from the November 15th total of 15,330,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,400,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $23.47 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.56. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 546.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the second quarter worth $88,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 57.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.