tru Independence LLC Has $4.82 Million Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

tru Independence LLC cut its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 183,875 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 5,075 shares during the period. tru Independence LLC owned 0.06% of Graphic Packaging worth $4,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Caprock Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.1% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 3,270 shares in the last quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,136,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,794,000 after purchasing an additional 13,625 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 119.8% during the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 20,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 11,050 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 86,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after buying an additional 1,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 775,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,326,000 after buying an additional 30,920 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.15.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $29.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.16 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $20.07 and a 52-week high of $30.66. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Graphic Packaging 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.