Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Raised to “Equal Weight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $27.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $24.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on GPK. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $26.44 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $23.47 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.54.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 26,832 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.4% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 74,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,959,000 after buying an additional 3,172 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 775,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,326,000 after acquiring an additional 30,920 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.3% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 86,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.1% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.