Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Lowers Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt has significantly reduced its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company by 80.8%, owning only 17,100 shares after selling 71,800 shares during the second quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors, including the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, have increased their stakes in Graphic Packaging, indicating a strong interest in the company despite Skandia's divestment.
• Graphic Packaging recently reported a better-than-expected EPS of $0.42 for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.40, and has set a fiscal year 2025 guidance between 1.900 and 2.200 EPS.

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt reduced its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 80.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,100 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 71,800 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GPK. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,240,697 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $239,888,000 after acquiring an additional 8,404,340 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 18,488,501 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $479,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932,841 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11,000.0% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,299,806 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $33,743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288,096 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,890,782 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $204,844,000 after buying an additional 1,018,017 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter valued at $25,960,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $19.51. The company had a trading volume of 8,853,765 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,757,363. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.78 billion, a PE ratio of 11.02, a P/E/G ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.75. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a 12-month low of $19.47 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.07.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 26,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $584,479.80. This represents a 20.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $5,798,212.16. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 93,752 shares of company stock worth $2,073,663 over the last 90 days. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.