Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $30.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,600,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,510,227. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.12. Graphic Packaging has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $30.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.08 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,048,794 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,853,000 after purchasing an additional 79,434 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 23,489 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $579,000 after acquiring an additional 4,049 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at $252,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 10.0% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,976 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.67% 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.