Federated Hermes Inc. Has $3.97 Million Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 152,944 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 11,534 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.05% of Graphic Packaging worth $3,970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPK. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 75.3% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,312,000 after buying an additional 21,708 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.1% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 221,927 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,761,000 after purchasing an additional 6,623 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,282,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,777 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 722 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPK. UBS Group assumed coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 56,737 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $1,239,136.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 33,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $738,759.84. This trade represents a 62.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.5%

Graphic Packaging stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,597,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,058,654. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 52-week low of $20.86 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The firm's 50 day moving average is $22.06 and its 200 day moving average is $24.28. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.43 and a beta of 0.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

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

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.