Barings LLC Acquires Shares of 50,909 Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Barings LLC acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 50,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,383,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 108.6% in the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,734,000 after buying an additional 13,175 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in 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 buying an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC raised its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after buying an additional 28,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock opened at $27.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.39. The stock has a market cap of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1 year low of $25.13 and a 1 year high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released 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). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. 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 research 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

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.