Advocate Group LLC Buys 17,292 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

Advocate Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 167,570 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,292 shares during the quarter. Advocate Group LLC owned about 0.05% of Graphic Packaging worth $4,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 870.7% in the 3rd quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,291 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 39.6% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Graphic Packaging in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

GPK stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.18. 2,342,186 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,973,131. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.14. Graphic Packaging Holding has a 1-year low of $20.07 and a 1-year high of $29.43. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The industrial products company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a return on equity of 35.66% and a net margin of 7.67%. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is 17.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GPK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. StockNews.com cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.22.

Insider Buying and Selling at Graphic Packaging

In other Graphic Packaging news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 70,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $1,834,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 205,231 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,377,052.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging 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.