Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,615,539 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 106,045 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.18% of Graphic Packaging worth $106,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Advisor Resource Council acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $328,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,331 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 4,466 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 74.6% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 500,312 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $14,804,000 after purchasing an additional 213,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter worth $11,079,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.48. 2,166,523 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,267,799. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $29.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.25. The company has a market capitalization of $8.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a PEG ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.83. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $21.25 and a 12-month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. Graphic Packaging's revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.53.

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.