Crossingbridge Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Crossingbridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 40,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $1,086,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,327,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,600,941 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $396,562,000 after acquiring an additional 788,066 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.7% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 102,951 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 30,796 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 335.7% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 52,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 40,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK stock traded down $3.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $21.54. 6,569,202 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,649,840. The firm's 50-day moving average is $25.66 and its 200 day moving average is $27.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.97, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $21.17 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The company's revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.89.

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.