Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $13.65 Million Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 13.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 502,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 78,534 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.17% of Graphic Packaging worth $13,648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pinebridge Investments L.P. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 42.7% during the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 102,951 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,796,000 after purchasing an additional 30,796 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 335.7% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 52,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after buying an additional 40,116 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 40,164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 932 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 257.0% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,471 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $475,000 after acquiring an additional 12,577 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $161,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPK. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $21.84 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.45 and its 200 day moving average is $27.21. The firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $20.86 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.