Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.10

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, August 1st, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of 0.10 per share by the industrial products company on Saturday, October 5th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th.

Graphic Packaging has increased its dividend by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Graphic Packaging has a payout ratio of 13.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Graphic Packaging to earn $2.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.8%.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a P/E/G ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.45. Graphic Packaging has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $30.66. The company’s fifty day moving average is $28.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.75.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.