Fmr LLC Acquires 2,294,688 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Fmr LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned about 0.07% of Graphic Packaging worth $605,416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 24.7% during the third 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. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 12,115,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,549,000 after acquiring an additional 3,576,877 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 9,600,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,632,000 after acquiring an additional 706,486 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,054,530 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $158,693,000 after acquiring an additional 362,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,545,000 after acquiring an additional 302,680 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $30.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a PEG ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $22.12 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.