Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK)

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $35.20 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on GPK. StockNews.com raised Graphic Packaging from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an underweight rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $28.74.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock opened at $26.94 on Tuesday. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $29.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.75. The firm has a market cap of $8.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 0.85.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 7.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. 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.