HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 3,935 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 223,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $6,071,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,990,000 after buying an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,131,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at $25,669,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $26.22 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.98 and a 200-day moving average of $28.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $25.13 and a 12 month high of $30.70.

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 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. 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 previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.