Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $25.67 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 945,103 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $25,669,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of Graphic Packaging at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 15,011 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 4,439 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,664,131 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $45,198,000 after purchasing an additional 98,367 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 23,482 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 1,547 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 164,478 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,467,000 after acquiring an additional 14,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 32.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 70,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 17,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $25.31. The stock had a trading volume of 506,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,424,439. 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 Holding has a 12 month low of $23.03 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.44. The firm has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. Graphic Packaging's revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th were paid a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 several research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.89.

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.