Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Shares Gap Down to $27.83

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $27.83, but opened at $26.50. Graphic Packaging shares last traded at $26.54, with a volume of 1,591,211 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GPK. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.44.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 35.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,681,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $282,540,000 after purchasing an additional 628,663 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 10.3% in the third quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,207,562 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,138,587 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 67.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,133,955 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $225,785,000 after acquiring an additional 4,074,508 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.6% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,320,000 after acquiring an additional 5,055,359 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,951,542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $220,656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134,410 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.