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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% during 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted 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 valued at $479,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,932,841 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,288,096 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,890,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $204,844,000 after acquiring an additional 1,018,017 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $28,789,000 after acquiring an additional 940,035 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 33,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,759.84. This represents a 62.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total value of $681,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 255,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,798,212.16. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,663 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $21.49 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52-week low of $20.65 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.53. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 7.10 and a beta of 0.75.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%.The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for 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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 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 Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.

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