Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Truist Financial Analyst Says

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) had its target price upped by Truist Financial from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Truist Financial’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.57% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on GPK. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $30.00 price target (down previously from $33.00) on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Graphic Packaging from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.37.

Graphic Packaging Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GPK opened at $26.54 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.42 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.54. Graphic Packaging has a fifty-two week low of $23.47 and a fifty-two week high of $30.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 28.26% and a net margin of 7.99%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Graphic Packaging will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael James Farrell sold 25,900 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $750,841.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 81,026 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,348,943.74. This trade represents a 24.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Charles D. Lischer sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.65, for a total value of $355,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 49,849 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,022.85. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Graphic Packaging

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 268.7% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 37,358 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter valued at about $928,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,610,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $313,957,000 after acquiring an additional 787,266 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 23.9% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,949,000 after acquiring an additional 136,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 26.1% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 27,575 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 5,699 shares during the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.