Brokerages Set Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Target Price at $31.37

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.37.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 3.8 %

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $25.14 on Friday. Graphic Packaging has a 1-year low of $24.50 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a 50-day moving average of $26.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.90. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 920.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,176,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767,011 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,268,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 735.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,446,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,456,000 after buying an additional 2,153,925 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. Finally, 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 buying an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. 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.