Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Grows Stock Holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) by 21.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,357,217 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591,458 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Graphic Packaging were worth $66,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GPK. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the first quarter valued at about $519,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 1st quarter valued at about $184,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,105,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $302,709,000 after purchasing an additional 377,055 shares in the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 25,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 11,619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total transaction of $1,439,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 209,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,019,907.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 9th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Graphic Packaging from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $27.83.

Graphic Packaging Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE GPK opened at $23.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.42. The company has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.96. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 52-week low of $18.98 and a 52-week high of $25.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 1.40.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.01. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 5.53% and a return on equity of 36.32%. The firm had revenue of $2.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 23.81%.

Graphic Packaging Profile

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Graphic Packaging Holding Co engages in the provision of paper-based packaging solutions for a variety of products to food, beverage and other consumer products companies. It operates through the following business segments: Paperboard Mills, Americas Paperboard Packaging, Europe Paperboard Packaging, and Corporate and Other.