Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Has $19.57 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. decreased its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 746,486 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,385 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $19,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPK. Greenlight Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,515,000 after acquiring an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth approximately $935,000. Harber Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,412,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 43.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 202,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,916,000 after buying an additional 61,102 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 171.7% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 603,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,631,000 after acquiring an additional 381,112 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $29.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $30.66. The company has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.02.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GPK shares. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price for the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

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.