Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The company's revenue was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Graphic Packaging updated its FY24 guidance to $2.49-2.61 EPS.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.26. 8,751,697 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,565,239. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.94 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.18. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $21.08 and a one year high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GPK. Citigroup reduced their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial downgraded Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.53.

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.