Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 362,509 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 6.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,054,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 362,509 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.97% of Graphic Packaging worth $158,693,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, 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.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $30.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62, a PEG ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.95. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $20.07 and a 52 week high of $30.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

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.