Cozad Asset Management Inc. Takes $2.20 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 89,085 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $2,196,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 67.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,133,955 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $225,785,000 after purchasing an additional 4,074,508 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 102.9% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,928,197 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $121,480,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498,942 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 27.3% during the third quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,530,507 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $167,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614,914 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 21.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,817,132 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $174,166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,354,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 54.8% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 3,495,296 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $77,875,000 after acquiring an additional 1,237,180 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,377,052.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK traded up $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $26.04. 4,578,987 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,880,665. The firm has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.05. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $29.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 35.66%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.02%.

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.