Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases 64,981 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 338,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 64,981 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Graphic Packaging worth $9,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% in the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 92.7% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $25.96 on Tuesday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $24.50 and a one year high of $30.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (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 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 Holding will post 2.47 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

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.