Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Truist Financial

Truist Financial lowered shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $30.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $32.00.

GPK has been the subject of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $28.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Graphic Packaging has a 1 year low of $21.08 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.18. The firm has a market cap of $8.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.79, a P/E/G ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 546.6% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 46.3% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the second quarter worth about $88,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.