AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 40,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,086,000. Graphic Packaging accounts for 1.1% of AlphaCentric Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,990,000 after buying an additional 1,702,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position 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 in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 9.6% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,545,000 after buying an additional 302,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth about $51,642,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK opened at $26.73 on Monday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $23.47 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 18.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.