Cetera Investment Advisers Boosts Stake in Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 96,932 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 2.9% during the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 63,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 8.7% during the first quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 460,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,622,000 after buying an additional 36,683 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the first quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 461,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,973,000 after buying an additional 34,000 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging during the first quarter valued at $281,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,240,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $239,888,000 after buying an additional 8,404,340 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GPK. UBS Group began coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. BNP Paribas Exane lowered Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.80, for a total transaction of $152,927.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,811 shares in the company, valued at $584,479.80. The trade was a 20.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $21.90 on Thursday. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a one year low of $20.86 and a one year high of $30.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.05 and a 200 day moving average of $24.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 7.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. The company had revenue of $2.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

Graphic Packaging announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.