AQR Capital Management LLC Has $8.81 Million Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

AQR Capital Management LLC lessened its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 23.8% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 335,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 105,104 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $8,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $291,320,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055,359 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 worth $317,549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,576,877 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised 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 worth $251,632,000 after acquiring an additional 706,486 shares during the last quarter. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,039,000. Finally, Greenlight Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 32.0% during the 4th quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,515,000 after purchasing an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.15.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK opened at $28.99 on Thursday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $30.66. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.02 and a 200 day moving average of $28.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The company’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

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

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.