Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $73.44 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,828,778 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 59,434 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.94% of Graphic Packaging worth $73,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 92.7% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $478,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,669,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 30,629 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 77,909 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 9,970 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE GPK traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $22.30. The stock had a trading volume of 2,007,200 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,579. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 0.71. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company's 50 day moving average price is $22.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.79.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during 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 for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan 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 buy up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America decreased 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. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.88.

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.