Analysts Set Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Target Price at $28.44

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.44.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPK shares. StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 870.7% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock opened at $27.07 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.10. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $20.07 and a 52-week high of $29.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.