Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Raises Position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 11,000.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,299,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,288,096 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.43% of Graphic Packaging worth $33,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPK. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 257.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 12,577 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 335.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 52,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 40,116 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,327,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $434,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,479.80. The trade was a 20.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $22.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a one year low of $20.86 and a one year high of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a PEG ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 21.13%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.38.

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.