Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Invests $5.38 Million in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 205,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,376,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,576,877 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 18.9% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,873,081 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $311,193,000 after buying an additional 1,889,525 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $251,632,000 after buying an additional 706,486 shares during the period. Eminence Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,962,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $196,271,000 after buying an additional 431,818 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,054,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,693,000 after buying an additional 362,509 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.95 and a 200-day moving average of $28.03. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $20.07 and a one year high of $30.66. The company has a market cap of $9.06 billion, a PE ratio of 13.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.10%.

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.