Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:GPK opened at $28.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Graphic Packaging has a 12 month low of $21.25 and a 12 month high of $30.70. The company has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.19.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Graphic Packaging news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total transaction of $2,422,790.70. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $59,555,816.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. XML Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 20,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 3,860 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 846.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 84,383 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,497,000 after buying an additional 75,467 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 394,725 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,680,000 after buying an additional 60,000 shares in the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Advisor Resource Council purchased a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 3rd quarter valued at about $328,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.