Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.70.

Several analysts have weighed in on GPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $793,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $27.74 on Monday. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $25.13 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.01 and a 200-day moving average of $28.39.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 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.