Nuveen LLC Purchases New Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company $GPK

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC purchased 616,987 shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company valued at approximately $16 million, increasing their ownership to 0.20% of the company, according to recent SEC filings.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their stakes in Graphic Packaging, with Victory Capital Management increasing its share by 1,004.9% to own over 9 million shares worth approximately $240 million.
• Graphic Packaging's stock is currently rated as a "Hold" by analysts, with a consensus price target of $26.38, reflecting a recent drop in target prices from various firms.

Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 616,987 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $16,017,000. Nuveen LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Graphic Packaging as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.3% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,125 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $79,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 554.5% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 3,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 8,480 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Raymond James Financial reissued 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $584,479.80. This trade represents a 20.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.39. 2,448,064 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,029,157. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $22.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.78. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a one year low of $20.86 and a one year high of $30.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.72 and a beta of 0.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 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 firm had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.900-2.20 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.11 per share. 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 (DPR) is currently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.