Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Now Covered by Stifel Nicolaus

Research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price indicates a potential upside of 32.63% from the stock’s previous close.

GPK has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.74.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $26.54 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.01, a PEG ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. Graphic Packaging has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $29.50.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth $3,110,000. Greenlight Capital Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,515,000 after acquiring an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth $935,000. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth about $4,412,000. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth about $2,196,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.