American Century Companies Inc. Raises Position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 11.7%, now owning approximately 6.13% of the company, valued at nearly $480 million.
• Graphic Packaging's recent quarterly earnings beat analysts' expectations, reporting earnings per share of $0.42 against a forecast of $0.40.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, with a payout ratio of approximately 24.86%.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,488,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,932,841 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 6.13% of Graphic Packaging worth $479,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 75.3% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,708 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.1% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 221,927 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,761,000 after acquiring an additional 6,623 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $912,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 23.3% in the first quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 98,889 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,567,000 after acquiring an additional 18,668 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.38.

Insider Activity

In other Graphic Packaging news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the sale, the director owned 26,811 shares in the company, valued at $584,479.80. This represents a 20.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded down $0.1910 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.5590. 516,119 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,080,649. The company has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 7.58 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.14 and a 200 day moving average of $23.92. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52-week low of $20.86 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.