Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $12.62 Million Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 460,243 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 36,683 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned 0.15% of Graphic Packaging worth $12,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $478,000. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $491,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $1,673,000. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $649,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 123,226 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $23.34. 2,920,657 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,943,076. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 12 month low of $20.86 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.71.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 7.15%. The firm's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on GPK. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.38.

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.