Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Boosts Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,136,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,625 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $29,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 166,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,106,000 after buying an additional 8,928 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $131,000. Metis Global Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth approximately $262,000. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 22,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $553,000 after buying an additional 3,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,968,801 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,181,000 after purchasing an additional 70,413 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of GPK traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,591,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,582,660. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.06 and a 200 day moving average of $27.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $30.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

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.