Foundry Partners LLC Increases Position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the quarter. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 0.3% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,007,968 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,826,000 after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 18.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 21,935 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 3,376 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in Graphic Packaging in the third quarter worth $228,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.8% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 43,608 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,697,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $50,228,000 after purchasing an additional 76,313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $25.14 on Friday. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52 week low of $24.50 and a 52 week high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71. The firm has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.93.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.15 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 25.96% and a net margin of 7.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, March 15th will be issued a $0.11 dividend. This represents a $0.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. 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 payout ratio is 20.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $24.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 target price (down from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $36.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.37.

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.