Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 9.6%, holding 4,578,418 shares valued at approximately $118.86 million.
• Graphic Packaging recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with an EPS of $0.42 that exceeded expectations, and forecasted a FY 2025 EPS of 1.900-2.20.
• The company is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.11 on October 8th, representing a 2.0% dividend yield.

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,578,418 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 402,231 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 1.52% of Graphic Packaging worth $118,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% in the 1st 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. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 11.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,488,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $479,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932,841 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 11,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,299,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288,096 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,890,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $204,844,000 after buying an additional 1,018,017 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 783.7% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,059,988 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,789,000 after buying an additional 940,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 56,737 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 33,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at $738,759.84. This represents a 62.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $681,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 255,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,798,212.16. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,663 over the last ninety days. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GPK shares. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE GPK traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $21.08. 3,606,112 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,558,592. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 12 month low of $20.38 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.75.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

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.