Prudential Financial Inc. Trims Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 81.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,496 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 97,248 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.'s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 58.2% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

GPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.66. 1,702,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,431,165. 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 Holding has a 1-year low of $23.03 and a 1-year high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.11 and a 200-day moving average of $27.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The business's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.37%.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.