Amundi Sells 680,526 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Amundi has reduced its position in Graphic Packaging by 14.2%, selling 680,526 shares and now owning 4,118,564 shares valued at approximately $107.7 million.
• Significant increases in holdings were seen from other investors, with Victory Capital Management increasing its stake by 1,004.9% to own 9,240,697 shares, while Epoch Investment Partners raised its stake by 11,000.0%.
• Graphic Packaging recently announced a $0.11 quarterly dividend, which will be paid on October 8th, representing an annual yield of 2.0%.

Amundi cut its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,118,564 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 680,526 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 1.36% of Graphic Packaging worth $107,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $239,888,000 after purchasing an additional 8,404,340 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.7% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,488,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $479,962,000 after buying an additional 1,932,841 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11,000.0% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,299,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,743,000 after buying an additional 1,288,096 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 940,035 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GPK shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price 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. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of 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 objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.8%

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

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 56,737 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $1,239,136.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 33,826 shares in the company, valued at $738,759.84. The trade was a 62.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 255,203 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,798,212.16. The trade was a 10.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 93,752 shares of company stock worth $2,073,663 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

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.