Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,670 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 70.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,911,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $218,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,493,702 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 936.3% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,765,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $56,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498,874 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,310,833 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $341,716,000 after buying an additional 1,577,742 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth $29,093,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 226.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,882,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,155,000 after buying an additional 1,305,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. Raymond James increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.78.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 0.6 %

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $24.86 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $19.08 and a 1-year high of $26.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $25.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.97.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.15. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 38.99% and a net margin of 6.46%. The business had revenue of $2.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 3.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, CFO Stephen R. Scherger sold 160,492 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $4,142,298.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 427,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,035,013.88. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Graphic Packaging news, CFO Stephen R. Scherger sold 160,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total transaction of $4,142,298.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 427,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,035,013.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total value of $1,439,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 209,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,019,907.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

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Graphic Packaging Holding Co engages in the provision of paper-based packaging solutions for a variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. It operates through the following business segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, Europe Paperboard Packaging, and Corporate and Other.