Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Trims Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,851 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,380 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPK. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth $42,000. Mizuho Bank Ltd. acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 42.3% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth approximately $79,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 554.5% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GPK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. UBS Group started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.88.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 2.8%

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $22.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.88. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $22.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.69. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.71.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 7.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, July 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.