Empowered Funds LLC Cuts Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Empowered Funds LLC lessened its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 96.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 245,382 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after buying an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,545,000 after buying an additional 302,680 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,642,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,697,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $50,228,000 after buying an additional 76,313 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.1 %

GPK opened at $27.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $27.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.50. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $25.13 and a one year high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.52%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.