Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. trimmed its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,625 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 30,408 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $3,491,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GPK. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,046 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 3,925 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 14,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Graphic Packaging in the 3rd quarter valued at $577,000. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 482,176 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,743,000 after purchasing an additional 90,954 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 5,817,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $129,615,000 after purchasing an additional 950,904 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,052.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.44.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $27.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The company has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.80. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $29.50.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.67% and a return on equity of 35.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

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.