Picton Mahoney Asset Management Grows Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 55.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 394 shares during the quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $30,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPK shares. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $26.21 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $25.13 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

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.