Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $28.74.

GPK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE GPK opened at $25.34 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.46, a P/E/G ratio of 9.31 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.24 and a 200 day moving average of $26.75. Graphic Packaging has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $29.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.03. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,110,000. Greenlight Capital Inc. raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $62,515,000 after acquiring an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter valued at about $935,000. Harber Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,412,000. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,196,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.