Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Stock Position Lifted by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,764 shares in the last quarter. Regents Gate Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,286,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 40,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,096,000 after acquiring an additional 18,458 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock opened at $27.20 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $25.13 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.59, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

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.