Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 497 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 13.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 5,816 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 699 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the second quarter valued at about $928,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 268.7% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 37,358 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 18.3% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 32,718 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $858,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 40,857 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $30.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.80, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.76 and a 200-day moving average of $27.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders 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 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’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 value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. 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 86,374 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPK. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.15.

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.