Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.53.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter valued at $88,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $27.66 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $23.47 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.