BNP Paribas Financial Markets Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 89.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,191 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 325,095 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 55.4% during the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 9,231 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,606 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $692,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $207,000 after buying an additional 492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GPK. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.17.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $23.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 10.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $20.86 and a one year high of $30.70. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.65.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.14 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Graphic Packaging

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.