Van ECK Associates Corp Has $16.49 Million Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 607,080 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 43,750 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $16,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 14.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 11,082 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,826,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 102.2% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 20,849 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 10,536 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 24,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 1,138 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the third quarter valued at approximately $214,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was 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 $1,478,022.85. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GPK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $26.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.57. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $23.47 and a twelve month high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced 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 business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.11 per share. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.52%.

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.