Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Has $7.97 Million Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 293,595 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.10% of Graphic Packaging worth $7,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 108.6% during the fourth quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,734,000 after acquiring an additional 13,175 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,149,000 after purchasing an additional 28,703 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

NYSE:GPK opened at $24.66 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $23.03 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.11 and a 200 day moving average of $27.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, April 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, March 15th were given a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Four 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.37.

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.