Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain cautious on Graphic Packaging: Twelve brokerages assign the stock an average “Reduce” rating, with three sell ratings and nine holds. The average 12-month price target is $11.14, above the reported $9.39 share price.
• Graphic Packaging slightly exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.14 EPS versus the $0.12 consensus and $2.19 billion in revenue, though earnings declined from $0.42 a year earlier and revenue fell 0.7% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, equivalent to $0.44 annually and a 4.7% yield. Institutional investors own nearly all of the stock, with ownership reported at 99.67%.

Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Reduce" from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.1444.

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $11.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, June 29th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $11.70 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth $440,345,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6,288.6% during the first quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC now owns 8,481,670 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $84,308,000 after purchasing an additional 8,348,907 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 503.6% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,693,765 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $130,928,000 after buying an additional 7,253,473 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 67.5% during the fourth quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 12,811,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $192,948,000 after buying an additional 5,163,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth about $45,266,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $9.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23 and a beta of 0.65. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $8.78 and a fifty-two week high of $21.24. The business's 50 day moving average price is $11.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.38.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 9.95%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.900 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 0.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is 66.67%.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

Graphic Packaging Holding Company is a leading provider of sustainable paperboard packaging solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed for food, beverage and other consumer goods markets. The company specializes in the manufacture of containerboard, folding cartons and engineered fill materials, as well as beverage packaging systems including paperboard cups, carriers and related components.

Through a network of manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe and Latin America, Graphic Packaging serves a diverse customer base that includes major consumer packaged goods companies, quick-service restaurants and retail chains.

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