Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 2,265.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 223,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 214,230 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.07% of Graphic Packaging worth $5,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 870.7% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,158 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GPK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.9 %

GPK opened at $27.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 1.24. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $29.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $27.53 and its 200 day moving average is $25.13. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.86.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 32.55%. The company had revenue of $2.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.10%.

Graphic Packaging 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.