Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Holdings Raised by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,703 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $6,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GPK. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 57.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GPK. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target 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 report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK opened at $27.31 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.19 and a 200-day moving average of $28.61. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $23.47 and a 52-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.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its 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 net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.46%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.09%.

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.