Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Sells 4,252 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 34.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,030 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 4,252 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after buying an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $441,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after purchasing an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 3,441,614 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $101,545,000 after purchasing an additional 302,680 shares during the period. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $51,642,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GPK. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $26.24 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $25.13 and a one year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

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.