Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 162,317 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,453,222 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 162,317 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.15% of Graphic Packaging worth $93,790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $441,990,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.6% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $101,545,000 after purchasing an additional 302,680 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $27.10. 3,135,341 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,371,214. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $25.13 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.50. The company has a market capitalization of $8.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid 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 1.62%. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging's payout ratio is currently 18.52%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 target price (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.70.

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.