Robert W. Baird Has Lowered Expectations for Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Stock Price

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $36.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GPK has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $26.43 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $23.47 and a one year high of $30.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly 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 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 14.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 107,962 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth approximately $711,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 57.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 2.6% during the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 28,284 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $837,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.