Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) Stock Rated “Reduce” by Wall Street Brokerages

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $10.51.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GPK shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $12.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $11.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Graphic Packaging from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $12.50 to $11.50 in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 67.5% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 12,811,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $192,948,000 after purchasing an additional 5,163,806 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $880,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,913,194 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,897,000 after purchasing an additional 538,810 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 60.9% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 444,472 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,698,000 after purchasing an additional 168,171 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,031,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $8.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.32. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $8.15 and a 12 month high of $18.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.18 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 9.95% and a net margin of 2.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.650-0.900 EPS. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 0.72 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE: GPK) is a provider of fiber-based packaging solutions for consumer products companies. Through its Graphic Packaging International subsidiary, the company designs and manufactures paperboard cartons, cups, trays and other packaging products used to package food, beverages and household and personal-care products.

The company also supplies packaging machinery and integrated packaging systems, including equipment used to form, fill and seal cartons and cups.