Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Has $33.74 Million Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Epoch Investment Partners Inc. significantly increased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 11,000%, acquiring an additional 1,288,096 shares, bringing their total ownership to 1,299,806 shares valued at $33.74 million.
• Graphic Packaging recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.11 per share, with a total annualized dividend yield of 2.0%.
• The company reported a net margin of 6.18% and beat EPS expectations for the last quarter, with an actual earnings of $0.42 against a forecast of $0.40.

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 11,000.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,299,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,288,096 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.43% of Graphic Packaging worth $33,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPK. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 69.9% in the first 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. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 42.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $64,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $152,927.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.72, for a total transaction of $681,600.00. Following 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,752 shares of company stock valued at $2,073,663. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GPK. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $22.25. 3,335,573 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,302,010. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a fifty-two week low of $20.86 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock's fifty day moving average is $22.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.67. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 7.57 and a beta of 0.76.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 21.13%. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors 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 yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.