Hodges Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 45.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540,644 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 169,853 shares during the quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Graphic Packaging worth $14,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 546.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% during the 4th quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.70.

Insider Activity

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE GPK traded up $0.48 on Thursday, hitting $26.93. The stock had a trading volume of 4,710,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,598,269. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.87 and a 200-day moving average of $28.62. The company has a market capitalization of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $23.47 and a 52-week high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.