Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Buys 6,970 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 180,249 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,970 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $4,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 217,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,919,000 after buying an additional 9,981 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 360,673 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,792,000 after acquiring an additional 12,391 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 35,690 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 2,996 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 34,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $25.31 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.93 and a 200-day moving average of $28.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $25.13 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 20.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPK. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

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.