Ethic Inc. Trims Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Ethic Inc. cut its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPK. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 920.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 4,176,187 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $113,425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767,011 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at about $98,268,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased 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 valued at $66,456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,925 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,642,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,702,764 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE GPK opened at $23.31 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 $20.86 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of 10.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.76.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Profile

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.