Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $27.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $24.00.

GPK has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $26.71 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $28.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Graphic Packaging has a 12-month low of $23.47 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,422,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 42,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. 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.