Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC cut its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,416 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 730 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 546.6% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth about $30,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 46.3% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $88,000. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. The trade was a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GPK shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.53.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK opened at $29.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.37. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $22.12 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.38 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.09%.

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.