Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 86,000 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,120,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPK. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 870.7% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,476 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:GPK traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.20. 2,549,267 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,841,493. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.68. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $29.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is 17.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $28.44.

Insider Activity

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.