Royal Bank Of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Stock Price

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its price target lowered by Royal Bank Of Canada from $26.00 to $25.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.40.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

GPK opened at $21.17 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.74. Graphic Packaging has a 52-week low of $20.86 and a 52-week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.98 and its 200-day moving average is $25.55.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 23.68% and a net margin of 7.15%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 15th will be given a $0.11 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.46%.

Graphic Packaging declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to repurchase up to 23.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Picton Mahoney Asset Management raised its position in Graphic Packaging by 55.4% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 1,105 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.6% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,535 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 69.9% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,065 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.1% in the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.