Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 120,260 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $3,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after buying an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,990,000 after buying an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after buying an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $101,545,000 after buying an additional 302,680 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,642,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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 reissued 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $26.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.46. The stock has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $25.13 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

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.