Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Trading Up 5.5%

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) shares were up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $29.56 and last traded at $29.55. Approximately 2,201,088 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 17% from the average daily volume of 2,666,920 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.03.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 4.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.98. The company has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 13.37, a P/E/G ratio of 10.15 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 364,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,988,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600 shares in the last quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 31,335 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,800 shares in the last quarter. Benin Management CORP acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 102.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,928,197 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $121,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.