Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Cuts Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 19.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 99,235 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 23,366 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $2,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 27,259 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 61.7% during the first quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,768 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $869,000 after acquiring an additional 11,358 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.6% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 246,930 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $7,205,000 after acquiring an additional 15,190 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at $8,410,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $29.10 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $21.25 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a market capitalization of $8.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.73.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.99% and a return on equity of 28.26%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.53.

Insider Activity at Graphic Packaging

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total value of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.