Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 922,202 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,569,642 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 922,202 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.99% of Graphic Packaging worth $753,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at $3,110,000. Greenlight Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 32.0% in the fourth quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,515,000 after purchasing an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. Harber Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,412,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,196,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,004,749 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,767,000 after buying an additional 61,698 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE GPK opened at $27.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.87. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $29.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.52 and a 200-day moving average of $26.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 7.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.13.

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.