Norges Bank Acquires New Shares in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 3,618,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,268,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 92.7% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK opened at $26.23 on Wednesday. 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 1 year low of $24.50 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.99. The firm has a market cap of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

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