Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Bought by Zacks Investment Management

Zacks Investment Management raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK - Free Report) by 13.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 569,040 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,833 shares during the quarter. Zacks Investment Management owned about 0.19% of Graphic Packaging worth $16,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth about $818,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,151,000. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 13.1% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 16,595 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 1,921 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,697,512 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $50,228,000 after buying an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.53. 2,392,085 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,866,719. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $22.76 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.50.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Graphic Packaging's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.09%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GPK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.53.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total transaction of $355,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.