Credit Agricole S A Lowers Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Credit Agricole S A has decreased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 60.7%, reducing its shares to 190,658 and valuing its investment at approximately $4.95 million.
• Graphic Packaging has announced a $1.50 billion share buyback program, signaling that leadership believes the stock is undervalued.
• The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.40, and set FY 2025 EPS guidance between $1.90-2.20.

Credit Agricole S A lowered its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 60.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,658 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 293,907 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A owned about 0.06% of Graphic Packaging worth $4,949,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 106.2% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 37,311 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 19,219 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 231,126 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,000,000 after acquiring an additional 27,846 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 69.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.4% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,336,367 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,692,000 after purchasing an additional 391,264 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In related news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 $5,798,212.16. This represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $152,927.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,479.80. The trade was a 20.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 93,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,663 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 2.0%

NYSE:GPK traded down $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $21.98. 685,929 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,080,697. The company has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 7.61 and a beta of 0.73. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 12 month low of $20.86 and a 12 month 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $22.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.77.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is currently 24.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging 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.