Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Research Coverage Started at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a buy rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $27.83.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of GPK stock opened at $23.31 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.40 and a 200 day moving average of $22.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.96. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $19.08 and a twelve month high of $25.17.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 36.32% and a net margin of 5.53%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 23.81%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total transaction of $1,439,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 209,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,019,907.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth $29,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,297 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1,275.3% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,668 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

About Graphic Packaging

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Graphic Packaging Holding Co engages in the provision of paper-based packaging solutions for a variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. It operates through the following business segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, Europe Paperboard Packaging, and Corporate and Other.