Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 79,751 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 22,431 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GPK. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,082 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ellsworth Advisors LLC now owns 160,726 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,756,000 after purchasing an additional 591 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,826,000 after purchasing an additional 2,969 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.2% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 20,849 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 10,536 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24,632 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In related news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.5 %

GPK stock traded up $0.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $26.73. 1,485,463 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,527,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market cap of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $27.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.54. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $23.47 and a 1-year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging's revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th will be paid a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging's previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.52%.

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.