Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,025 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $271,000 after buying an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 0.9% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 56,009 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.0% in the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $408,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.22.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,377,052.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $29.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,254,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,947,060. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.19 and a 200 day moving average of $24.06. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $29.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.02%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.