Premier Fund Managers Ltd Acquires 302,680 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 302,680 shares during the quarter. Graphic Packaging accounts for 3.6% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $101,545,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 171.7% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 603,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,631,000 after purchasing an additional 381,112 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $134,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the first quarter worth about $211,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 119.5% in the 1st quarter. PEAK6 Investments LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 44,781 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GPK stock opened at $28.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07, a P/E/G ratio of 10.98 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $22.04 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.34.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.09%.

Graphic Packaging 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.