HighTower Advisors LLC Has $6.07 Million Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 223,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Graphic Packaging worth $6,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,734,000 after purchasing an additional 13,175 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after buying an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after buying an additional 28,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock opened at $26.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.98 and a 200-day moving average of $28.24. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $25.13 and a 12-month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

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.