Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,050,000 shares, an increase of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 17,450,000 shares. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.2 days.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.9 %

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $25.76 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging has a 52 week low of $25.13 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.22.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase 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 dividend yield of 1.71%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 20.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 36.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,038 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at approximately $794,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

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.