JPMorgan Chase & Co. Grows Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $313,957,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,800,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $437,945,000 after buying an additional 2,927,344 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.9% in 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, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,054,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,693,000 after acquiring an additional 362,509 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK opened at $27.45 on Monday. 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 Holding has a 12-month low of $23.47 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.57.

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

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.09%.

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.