Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,453,222 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 162,317 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.15% of Graphic Packaging worth $93,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,764 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,545,000 after acquiring an additional 302,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $27.07 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $23.47 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $8.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.41 and a 200-day moving average of $28.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 18.52%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.