HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,574 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $6,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GPK. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,115,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,549,000 after buying an additional 3,576,877 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,800,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $437,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,927,344 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,688 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,600,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,632,000 after acquiring an additional 706,486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 33.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,719,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,078,000 after acquiring an additional 428,278 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $29.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $22.76 and a 1 year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GPK shares. Truist Financial cut 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. 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, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % 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.

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.