Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Short Interest Update

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,050,000 shares, an increase of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 17,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.2 days. Approximately 7.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $29,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth $271,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 36.4% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 18,038 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $534,000 after acquiring an additional 4,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth $794,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GPK. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of 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 upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.70.

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Graphic Packaging Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded down $0.68 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.31. The stock had a trading volume of 3,958,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,331,067. The firm's fifty day moving average is $26.93 and its 200 day moving average is $28.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. Graphic Packaging has a 52 week low of $25.13 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

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.