California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 11,898 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 11,898 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Graphic Packaging worth $7,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $22.22 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $20.86 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.