Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Sells 56,088 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 72.1%, holding 21,678 shares worth approximately $565,000 after selling 56,088 shares in the first quarter.
• Graphic Packaging reported a quarterly EPS of $0.42, exceeding analysts' expectations, and achieved a revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.1% and a payout ratio of 24.86%.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 72.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,678 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 56,088 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $565,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 30,986 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $584,479.80. The trade was a 20.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owned 255,203 shares in the company, 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 worth $2,073,663 over the last 90 days. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price 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. UBS Group began coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.00.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, reaching $20.27. 1,073,819 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,142,723. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.20. The stock has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 6.87 and a beta of 0.75. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52-week low of $19.87 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during 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. On average, analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.