Stephens Inc. AR Buys 1,455 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.2% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,227 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the second quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at about $134,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GPK. 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target for the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $27.80 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $29.37 and its 200 day moving average is $28.20. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $21.25 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued 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 net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Graphic Packaging

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.