Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP cut its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,966 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 116,688 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $1,893,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 99.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,049,000 after acquiring an additional 52,139 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 37,358 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the second quarter valued at approximately $928,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,949,000 after buying an additional 136,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,823,000. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GPK shares. Truist Financial lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $32.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.53.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

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

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of Graphic Packaging stock opened at $30.09 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $22.49 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.43. The stock has a market cap of $9.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released 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). The business had revenue of $2.22 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.09%.

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.