Bridgewater Associates LP Reduces Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Bridgewater Associates LP lowered its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 64.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,966 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 116,688 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at about $228,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 297.5% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 362,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $10,720,000 after acquiring an additional 271,134 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $605,416,000 after acquiring an additional 2,294,688 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 144.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 104,957 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,096,000 after acquiring an additional 62,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.08 on Friday, reaching $30.09. 1,022,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,967,045. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $22.49 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.43.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 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 $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on GPK. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

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.