Xponance Inc. Decreases Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Xponance Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,401 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,504 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,817,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $174,166,000 after buying an additional 1,354,359 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.4% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 5,084,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,281,000 after purchasing an additional 169,395 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 19.5% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 5,817,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $129,615,000 after purchasing an additional 950,904 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at about $883,000. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,380,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.44.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock opened at $27.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $20.07 and a 52-week high of $29.50.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

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.