Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Short Interest Update

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 16,850,000 shares, a growth of 9.3% from the August 31st total of 15,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,260,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GPK. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.20 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (up from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 86,374 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.05, for a total value of $2,422,790.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,123,202 shares in the company, valued at $59,555,816.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael P. Doss sold 49,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $1,372,697.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,909,576 shares in the company, valued at $53,296,266.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Greenlight Capital Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Greenlight Capital Inc. now owns 2,536,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $62,515,000 after purchasing an additional 614,490 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the first quarter worth about $935,000. Harber Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,412,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 43.1% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 202,727 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,916,000 after purchasing an additional 61,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 171.7% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 603,023 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $17,631,000 after purchasing an additional 381,112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 0.5 %

Graphic Packaging stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,398,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,534,970. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $20.07 and a fifty-two week high of $30.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. The company has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.05.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 30.74% and a net margin of 7.93%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 18.10%.

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.