Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,631 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,239 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 832,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,907,000 after buying an additional 33,691 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 99.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 52,139 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 37,358 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter valued at $928,000. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth $1,823,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $29.61 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $22.12 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.38.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

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.