Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Hits New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $30.70 and last traded at $30.69, with a volume of 884214 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $29.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.87.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.41 and a 200 day moving average of $28.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm's revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.10%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $59,555,816.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas bought a new position in Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter worth approximately $935,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 43.1% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 202,727 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,916,000 after purchasing an additional 61,102 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 171.7% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 603,023 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $17,631,000 after purchasing an additional 381,112 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 832,035 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $23,907,000 after purchasing an additional 33,691 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 99.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,049,000 after purchasing an additional 52,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

About Graphic Packaging

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.