StockNews.com Upgrades Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) to “Buy”

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GPK. Citigroup increased their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.43.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

NYSE GPK opened at $25.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 9.53 and a beta of 0.85. Graphic Packaging has a twelve month low of $20.07 and a twelve month high of $29.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 32.55% and a net margin of 7.36%. Graphic Packaging’s quarterly revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,681,314 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $282,540,000 after purchasing an additional 628,663 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 102.6% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,983,556 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $291,320,000 after purchasing an additional 5,055,359 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,951,542 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $220,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,134,410 shares in the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 7,962,325 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $196,271,000 after purchasing an additional 431,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,128,914 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,832,000 after purchasing an additional 241,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.