Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Hodges Capital Management Inc.

Hodges Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 28.6% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 333,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 133,399 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $9,717,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of GPK traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,645,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,351,848. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.47 and a 200 day moving average of $26.65. The company has a market cap of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.68 and a beta of 0.87. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $20.07 and a 1 year high of $29.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 7.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.13.

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.