9,847 Shares in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Bought by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 9,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.67 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $30.66. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.36. The company has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a PEG ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.45.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price for the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.