Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Lowers Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 32.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 259,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 122,922 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $7,039,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GPK. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 20,460,161 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $605,416,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294,688 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,642,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 16,503,189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $441,990,000 after acquiring an additional 1,702,764 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,131,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $30.00 price objective (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE GPK opened at $26.64 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.46. 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 company has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.84. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $25.13 and a one year high of $30.70.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.47% and a return on equity of 25.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is an increase from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

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.