UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Lowers Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lessened its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,443,883 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 271,920 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $42,724,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPK. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 32,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 17,473 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 54,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 2.6% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 16,811 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.8 %

GPK opened at $30.05 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $22.66 and a 1-year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

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.