Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired 25,147 shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company in Q1, valued at approximately $653,000.
• The company authorized a $1.50 billion stock repurchase program, indicating management's belief that shares are undervalued.
• Graphic Packaging reported Q2 earnings of $0.42 EPS, surpassing analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $2.20 billion.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 25,147 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 75.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,708 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.1% in 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 buying an additional 6,623 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,155 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,282,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $14,245,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $26.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. UBS Group started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 0.3%

GPK traded down $0.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.77. 2,452,767 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,735,325. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $22.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 12-month low of $20.86 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 7.73 and a beta of 0.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. Analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 56,737 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $1,239,136.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,759.84. The trade was a 62.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.