Zacks Research Downgrades Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) to Strong Sell

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $16.00 target price on Graphic Packaging and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Graphic Packaging from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Graphic Packaging from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Graphic Packaging currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $18.38.

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

Shares of GPK stock opened at $15.41 on Wednesday. Graphic Packaging has a one year low of $13.93 and a one year high of $28.62. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.82.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.17 billion. Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 19.98%. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.800-2.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GPK. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 54.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,841 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 2,065 shares during the period. Advocate Group LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 16.2% in the second quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 290,184 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after buying an additional 40,466 shares during the last quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC boosted its position in Graphic Packaging by 74.7% during the second quarter. Terra Alpha Investments LLC now owns 83,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 35,883 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Graphic Packaging by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 19,138,977 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $374,550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its position in Graphic Packaging by 48.0% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 234,885 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,949,000 after acquiring an additional 76,226 shares in the last quarter. 99.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

Graphic Packaging Holding Company is a leading provider of sustainable paperboard packaging solutions, offering a broad portfolio of products designed for food, beverage and other consumer goods markets. The company specializes in the manufacture of containerboard, folding cartons and engineered fill materials, as well as beverage packaging systems including paperboard cups, carriers and related components.

Through a network of manufacturing facilities across North America, Europe and Latin America, Graphic Packaging serves a diverse customer base that includes major consumer packaged goods companies, quick-service restaurants and retail chains.