Brokerages Set Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Price Target at $31.53

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.53.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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, October 17th.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $30.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.15 and a 200-day moving average of $28.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $22.66 and a 12 month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 832,035 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $23,907,000 after purchasing an additional 33,691 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 99.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 52,139 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 37,358 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the second quarter worth $928,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 23.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,949,000 after acquiring an additional 136,342 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.