Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Receives $31.15 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.15.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,320,000 after buying an additional 5,055,359 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $100,387,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,115,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,549,000 after purchasing an additional 3,576,877 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,600,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,632,000 after purchasing an additional 706,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, L1 Capital International Pty Ltd bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,039,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $30.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.97. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $20.07 and a one year high of $30.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given 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 is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

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.