Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 932,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 303,574 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.30% of Graphic Packaging worth $22,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 33,310 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $821,000 after acquiring an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 5,134 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $881,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Graphic Packaging by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 26,627 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 39.6% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of Graphic Packaging stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPK has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $28.13.

Graphic Packaging Stock Up 1.1 %

Graphic Packaging stock opened at $27.68 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 1.24. Graphic Packaging Holding has a one year low of $20.07 and a one year high of $29.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.86.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.38 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 7.36% and a return on equity of 32.55%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is currently 18.10%.

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.