Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 591,458 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) by 21.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,357,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591,458 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.09% of Graphic Packaging worth $66,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 0.7% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 83,782 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 16.4% during the second quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 215,550 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,419,000 after acquiring an additional 30,405 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the third quarter valued at $235,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 145.7% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 121,462 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 72,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Republic Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 3.4% during the third quarter. First Republic Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.9 %

GPK opened at $23.30 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 0.57. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $18.98 and a fifty-two week high of $25.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $23.29 and its 200 day moving average is $22.42.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 36.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.81%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total value of $1,439,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 209,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,019,907.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 9th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.83.

About Graphic Packaging

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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. It operates through the following business segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, Europe Paperboard Packaging, and Corporate and Other.