Blue Trust Inc. Sells 381 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,251 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 381 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 8,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 28,703 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at $4,169,000. Finally, XML Financial LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 21,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.5 %

GPK opened at $27.98 on Thursday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $23.47 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.65. The company has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GPK shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

About Graphic Packaging

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.