First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Raises Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,309 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 24.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,800,425 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $437,945,000 after purchasing an additional 2,927,344 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $51,642,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after buying an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at $11,079,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $27.86 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $8.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.91 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.