Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 13,902 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 28.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,138 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 13,902 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Mizuho Bank Ltd. bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings 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 worth $55,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group initiated 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. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.40.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of GPK traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $21.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,874,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,614,099. 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 company has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.05. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 7.15%. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. The company's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically 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.