New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 7,000 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

New York State Common Retirement Fund cut its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 120,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $3,266,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $26.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $25.13 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.46. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GPK shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

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.