Erste Asset Management GmbH Makes New Investment in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 16,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 99.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 52,139 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 37,358 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth $928,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 23.9% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,949,000 after purchasing an additional 136,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth $1,823,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $29.79 on Thursday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $22.66 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GPK. Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

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.