Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Purchased by NewEdge Advisors LLC

NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 470.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,157 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GPK. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,810,000 after acquiring an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $27,734,000 after purchasing an additional 13,175 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,282,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $51,642,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on GPK shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.89.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $21.60. The stock had a trading volume of 2,539,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,445,363. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $20.86 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's fifty day moving average is $25.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

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). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

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.