Erste Asset Management GmbH Trims Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Erste Asset Management GmbH lowered its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 33.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $305,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $26.22 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $25.13 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $26.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.30.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging 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.