Vestcor Inc Has $549,000 Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 52.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,551 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 20,167 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $549,000 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. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after buying an additional 37,358 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth about $928,000. Raymond James & Associates lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 23.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,949,000 after purchasing an additional 136,342 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 26.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 27,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the second quarter valued at approximately $524,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $29.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.55.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The firm 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 business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

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.