Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK Shares Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 52.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,715 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 48,176 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $3,627,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 554.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $161,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of a number of research reports. 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 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.38.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock traded down $0.09 on Monday, reaching $22.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,077,009 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,080,398. The company has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.65 and a beta of 0.73. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 1 year low of $20.86 and a 1 year 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. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $22.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.96.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 21.13%. Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

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

Graphic Packaging announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.