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

Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $31.53.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded 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 research note on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth $2,292,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 408,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,069,000 after purchasing an additional 89,339 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 75.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 48,090 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 20,604 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth about $414,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of GPK opened at $27.66 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.82, a P/E/G ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.57.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.09%.

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.