Access Financial Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Access Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,559 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,686 shares during the quarter. Access Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPK. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 870.7% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,377,052.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.22.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $29.18 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $20.07 and a 52-week high of $29.43. The stock has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.09.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.02%.

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.