Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 17.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 357,709 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 76,821 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. owned about 0.12% of Graphic Packaging worth $9,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.3% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 67.8% during the first quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 109,560 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 44,253 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 105,982.8% in the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 30,764 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 30,735 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2,086.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 98,025 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 93,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE:GPK traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $21.61. The stock had a trading volume of 4,415,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,550,859. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $20.86 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.96. The stock has a market cap of $6.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on GPK. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.53.

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.