Legal & General Group Plc Sells 39,550 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 482,161 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 39,550 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.16% of Graphic Packaging worth $13,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,826,000 after acquiring an additional 2,969 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 55,289 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,636,000 after acquiring an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 637,199 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $18,854,000 after buying an additional 51,451 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $359,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at $414,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE GPK traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.50. 2,854,454 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,430,010. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $23.03 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $31.37.

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.