Analysts Set Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Price Target at $28.44

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $28.44.

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,681,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $282,540,000 after buying an additional 628,663 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,207,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,984,000 after buying an additional 1,138,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 67.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,320,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,951,542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $220,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,410 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.2 %

GPK opened at $27.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $29.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $27.21 and its 200 day moving average is $24.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 35.66%. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.02%.

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.