Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $23.00.

GPK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Saturday.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 2.5%

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $17.23 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.74. Graphic Packaging has a 1 year low of $16.94 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 56,737 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total value of $1,239,136.08. Following the transaction, the director owned 33,826 shares in the company, valued at $738,759.84. This represents a 62.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total transaction of $681,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 255,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,798,212.16. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,752 shares of company stock worth $2,073,663 in the last quarter. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GPK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,655,111 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $795,807,000 after purchasing an additional 929,764 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 19.1% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,022,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $464,011,000 after buying an additional 3,533,846 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 8.5% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,138,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $374,550,000 after buying an additional 1,502,681 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.8% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 11,570,040 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $243,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,240,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $239,888,000 after acquiring an additional 8,404,340 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently 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.