MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 6,701 Shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK)

MetLife Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging Holding (NYSE:GPK) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 155,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,701 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.05% of Graphic Packaging worth $4,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Graphic Packaging by 99.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 104,490 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after buying an additional 52,139 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 268.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 51,261 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after acquiring an additional 37,358 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Graphic Packaging in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $928,000. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 707,969 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $20,949,000 after purchasing an additional 136,342 shares during the period. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Graphic Packaging during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,823,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Graphic Packaging Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GPK opened at $30.09 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.43. Graphic Packaging Holding has a twelve month low of $22.49 and a twelve month high of $30.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $9.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a PEG ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.83.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Graphic Packaging Holding will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, January 5th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 15th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Graphic Packaging’s payout ratio is presently 17.09%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial cut Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $32.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Graphic Packaging from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.53.

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.