US Bancorp DE Acquires 649 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK)

US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,288 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 649 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1,004.9% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,240,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $239,888,000 after acquiring an additional 8,404,340 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 735.3% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,446,843 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $66,456,000 after acquiring an additional 2,153,925 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,669,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 783.7% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,059,988 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,789,000 after acquiring an additional 940,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,600,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $396,562,000 after acquiring an additional 788,066 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Philip R. Martens sold 7,015 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director owned 26,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $584,479.80. This trade represents a 20.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.38.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock opened at $23.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.09. Graphic Packaging Holding Company has a twelve month low of $20.86 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a PEG ratio of 7.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 21.13% and a net margin of 6.18%. The business had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. Analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 23.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, October 5th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.86%.

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.