Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 78,534 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD trimmed its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 502,445 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 78,534 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.17% of Graphic Packaging worth $13,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.7% in the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 102,951 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,796,000 after acquiring an additional 30,796 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 335.7% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 52,065 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 40,116 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,164 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,091,000 after buying an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 257.0% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,471 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 12,577 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at about $161,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE:GPK traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $22.13. The stock had a trading volume of 5,018,916 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,466,405. The stock has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.25, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50 day moving average is $25.35 and its 200 day moving average is $27.12. 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 Holding 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 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.17.

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.