Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Lowered to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.60.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $30.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $28.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Graphic Packaging has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.