Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Given New $30.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price target cut by Truist Financial from $31.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock opened at $25.35 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.14. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $24.50 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 20.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 920.6% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,176,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $113,425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767,011 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,268,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after buying an additional 2,294,688 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 735.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,446,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $66,456,000 after buying an additional 2,153,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $51,642,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.