$2.10 Billion in Sales Expected for Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) This Quarter

Analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) will announce $2.10 billion in sales for the current quarter, according to Zacks. Six analysts have issued estimates for Graphic Packaging’s earnings, with estimates ranging from $1.89 billion to $2.19 billion. Graphic Packaging reported sales of $1.65 billion in the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 27.3%. The company is scheduled to report its next earnings report before the market opens on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will report full year sales of $8.75 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $8.08 billion to $8.96 billion. For the next year, analysts expect that the business will post sales of $8.93 billion, with estimates ranging from $8.57 billion to $9.15 billion. Zacks’ sales calculations are an average based on a survey of sell-side analysts that that provide coverage for Graphic Packaging.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 16th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.01. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GPK shares. KeyCorp lowered Graphic Packaging from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $23.00 to $20.00 in a report on Monday, December 20th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, February 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $23.72.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 751,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $15,344,000 after acquiring an additional 390,925 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 1st quarter worth $252,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $272,418,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 13,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,728,181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $287,199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.08% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NYSE:GPK traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $21.01. The company had a trading volume of 56,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,323,741. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.48 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.09. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $16.94 and a 52-week high of $21.76. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.75.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 14th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.48%.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile (Get Rating)

Graphic Packaging Holding Co engages in the provision of paper-based packaging solutions for a variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. The firm produces folding cartons, kraft paperboard, coated-recycled boxboard and multi-wall bags. It operates through the following business segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, Europe Paperboard Packaging, and Corporate and Other.

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