Essential Planning LLC. Takes $8.34 Million Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 288,340 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,341,000. Essential Planning LLC. owned about 0.10% of Graphic Packaging as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 101,569 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,759,000 after purchasing an additional 6,353 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 223,509 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,071,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,265,000. Markel Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 427,225 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,603,000 after purchasing an additional 32,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 77,909 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 9,970 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $27.48 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $27.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.38. Graphic Packaging Holding has a fifty-two week low of $25.13 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The firm has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81.

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

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.60%. This is a positive change from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GPK shares. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.70.

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.