American Century Companies Inc. Buys 3,576,877 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,115,566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,576,877 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 3.94% of Graphic Packaging worth $317,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the second quarter worth $592,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 39.1% in the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 11,624 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 3,270 shares during the last quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 1.2% in the second quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 1,136,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,794,000 after purchasing an additional 13,625 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 119.8% in the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 20,275 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 11,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.3% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 86,028 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GPK. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.15.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other 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 owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, 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 Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.91 billion, a PE ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 1.45. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $30.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.75.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 30.74%. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.10%.

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.