BNP Paribas Financial Markets Acquires 271,134 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 297.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,286 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 271,134 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned about 0.12% of Graphic Packaging worth $10,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 32,827 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $860,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.4% during the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 17,473 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $458,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 0.8% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 54,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. Fiduciary Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 2.6% in the second quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 16,811 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GPK shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of GPK stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $30.28. 2,956,898 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,541,705. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $9.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.83. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.43. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $22.66 and a 12-month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.