Artemis Investment Management LLP Purchases 963 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,021 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GPK. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter worth $2,120,000. Strs Ohio lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 178,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,390,000 after buying an additional 4,325 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 72,440 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,786,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 79.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,000 after buying an additional 1,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GPK. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.15.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $28.05. 505,751 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,671,650. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 0.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $20.07 and a 52 week high of $30.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.19.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. The company’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.72 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,296,266.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,555,816.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.