Teacher Retirement System of Texas Sells 32,813 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 53.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,826 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,813 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 108.6% in the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,734,000 after buying an additional 13,175 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after acquiring an additional 28,703 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPK. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.2 %

GPK stock opened at $26.11 on Monday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $24.50 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.84 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging 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.