Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,759 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 45,198 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth 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. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $692,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on GPK shares. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $24.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.59. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $23.03 and a 12-month high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion for 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 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.