Connable Office Inc. Increases Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Connable Office Inc. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,266 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,545,000 after purchasing an additional 302,680 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth $51,642,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPK. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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. Four equities research 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $26.64 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.46. The company has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

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.