Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 15,300 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Van ECK Associates Corp lowered its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 650,830 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 15,300 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.21% of Graphic Packaging worth $19,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 1,976 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 202,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,916,000 after purchasing an additional 61,102 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 33.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 26,313 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 6,612 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 145,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 5,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,481 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 4,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was 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 directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Graphic Packaging news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,422,790.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,555,816.10. This trade represents 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPK. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $27.80 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $29.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a PEG ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.58. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $21.25 and a 1-year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

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.