First Trust Advisors LP Sells 212,035 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 755,443 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 212,035 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.25% of Graphic Packaging worth $20,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth $318,000. Freedom Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,064 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 643 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 870,047 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $23,606,000 after purchasing an additional 170,593 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 735.3% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,446,843 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $66,456,000 after purchasing an additional 2,153,925 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 470.4% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,379 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 15,157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.89.

Graphic Packaging Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of GPK opened at $25.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm's 50 day moving average is $25.76 and its 200-day moving average is $27.38. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12 month low of $23.03 and a 12 month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

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.

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