Norges Bank Takes $98.27 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,618,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $98,268,000. Norges Bank owned 1.21% of Graphic Packaging as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPK. Truist Financial cut their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock traded down $1.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.14. The stock had a trading volume of 5,687,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,413,166. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $24.50 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $26.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

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.