Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) Plans $0.10 Quarterly Dividend

Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, July 5th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th.

Graphic Packaging has increased its dividend by an average of 2.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Graphic Packaging has a payout ratio of 12.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Graphic Packaging to earn $3.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.0%.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK opened at $24.86 on Friday. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $19.08 and a one year high of $26.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.00 and its 200-day moving average is $23.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 0.97.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 38.99%. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 3.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total transaction of $1,439,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 209,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,019,907.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Joseph P. Yost sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.99, for a total transaction of $1,439,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 209,250 shares in the company, valued at $5,019,907.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Stephen R. Scherger sold 160,492 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.81, for a total value of $4,142,298.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 427,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,035,013.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 13.6% during the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.8% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 10,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 5.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 11,662 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 591 shares during the last quarter. American International Group Inc. increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 21.6% during the second quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 4,414 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 3.2% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 25,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $547,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. 94.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $30.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $29.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Graphic Packaging from $28.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn restated a “buy” rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.78.

Graphic Packaging Company 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.