Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Stock Price

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its target price trimmed by Royal Bank Of Canada from $26.00 to $25.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

GPK has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.40.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $21.28 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $23.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.67. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $20.86 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.88.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 7.15%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 21.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.6% during the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 69.9% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.1% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.