Sei Investments Co. Increases Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 33.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,719,878 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 428,278 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.56% of Graphic Packaging worth $45,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 56.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $579,000 after buying an additional 4,049 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 9,477 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Finally, Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 14,819 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $365,000 after buying an additional 1,710 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In related 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 value of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $30.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.97. 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.12 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.