Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Equal Weight” Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $27.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $24.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on GPK. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $26.44 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.54. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $23.47 and a one year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for 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 company’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 268.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 37,358 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the second quarter worth $928,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 23.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,949,000 after buying an additional 136,342 shares during the period. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 27,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 5,699 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% 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.