DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale Buys 155,805 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 23.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 832,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 155,805 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.28% of Graphic Packaging worth $21,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.6% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 4.1% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,770 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.88.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of GPK traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.31. The company had a trading volume of 547,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,604,457. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $22.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.87. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.71. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52-week low of $20.86 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

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

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. 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 is currently 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is 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.