Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 17,183 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 32.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 70,831 shares of the industrial products company's stock after buying an additional 17,183 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 2,484.0% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,292 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,242 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 92.7% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased 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. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.89.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE GPK traded up $0.11 on Thursday, hitting $25.28. 341,935 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,423,738. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.83 and a 200-day moving average of $27.44. 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 52 week low of $23.03 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th were issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.