Aspire Private Capital LLC Acquires 1,216 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,428 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 32,827 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $860,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 38,064 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 54,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,422,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 26,805 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 58.2% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,493 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $28.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $28.24 and its 200 day moving average is $28.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 12-month low of $23.47 and a 12-month high of $30.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, January 5th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 15th were issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 49,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,022.85. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of Graphic Packaging 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This represents a 24.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.