Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Receives $31.53 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.53.

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

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,115,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $317,549,000 after buying an additional 3,576,877 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 24.7% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,800,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $437,945,000 after acquiring an additional 2,927,344 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,600,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,632,000 after purchasing an additional 706,486 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock opened at $27.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.97 and a 200-day moving average of $28.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $23.47 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 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 Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.