Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.17.

GPK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 2.2 %

Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,739,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,464,623. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.26. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $20.86 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 461,225 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $11,973,000 after acquiring an additional 34,000 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $281,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $239,888,000 after buying an additional 8,404,340 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 188,581 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,894,000 after buying an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1.9% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 367,559 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $9,538,000 after buying an additional 6,886 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.