Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,603,072 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,007,161 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $260,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 405,970 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,026,000 after acquiring an additional 16,569 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,725,347 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $807,340,000 after purchasing an additional 145,209 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 123,226 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,356 shares in the last quarter. Fox Run Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at $649,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at $1,673,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $26.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $24.50 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.76 and a 200-day moving average of $28.04.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio 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.