Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 22,431 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 22.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,751 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,431 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Choreo LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 25,448 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $693,000 after acquiring an additional 908 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 540,644 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,684,000 after buying an additional 169,853 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at $34,131,000. Finally, Capital Insight Partners LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Insight Partners LLC now owns 48,890 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,328,000 after buying an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the 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 owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GPK. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GPK stock opened at $26.61 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $23.47 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.59.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 18.52%.

About Graphic Packaging

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.