Truist Financial Cuts Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Price Target to $30.00

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price target decreased by Truist Financial from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GPK. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock opened at $25.78 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.10. 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 $7.74 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. Graphic Packaging has a 52 week low of $24.50 and a 52 week high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging 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 issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.3% in 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 during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.