Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) Shares Acquired by US Bancorp DE

US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 649 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $371,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 75.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 50,534 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after purchasing an additional 21,708 shares during the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.1% in the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 221,927 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,761,000 after purchasing an additional 6,623 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.7% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 35,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 194,467 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,282,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth about $14,245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of GPK stock opened at $23.14 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.73. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.11 and a 200 day moving average of $24.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is presently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPK. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group assumed coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total value of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 26,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $584,479.80. The trade was a 20.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.41% 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.