Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Lowers Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,766 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 21,469 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth $30,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,242 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 689 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,835,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,318,522. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $25.13 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $8.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. Research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GPK. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.70.

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.