Short Interest in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Rises By 20.6%

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 21,050,000 shares, a growth of 20.6% from the February 13th total of 17,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 9.2 days. Approximately 7.1% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK traded down $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,808,351 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,325,108. The firm has a market cap of $7.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. Graphic Packaging has a 52 week low of $25.13 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.24.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 EPS 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 business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. Graphic Packaging’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Graphic Packaging’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio is 20.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 108.6% during the 4th quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 64,343 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,810,000 after purchasing an additional 33,493 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,021,143 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,734,000 after acquiring an additional 13,175 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $313,957,000 after buying an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 4th quarter worth $51,642,000. Finally, Advocate Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 226,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,149,000 after buying an additional 28,703 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

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.