Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC Sells 420 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC lowered its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,044 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $51,642,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,764 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth $34,131,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $26.64 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $25.13 and a one year high of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.70.

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.