Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Shares Up 7.9% – Here’s Why

04 Feb 2026, 16:16 by Scott Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Graphic Packaging Holding Company (NYSE:GPK – Get Free Report)’s stock price rose 7.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $13.53 and last traded at $13.4070. Approximately 4,288,407 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 6,095,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.42.

Key Headlines Impacting Graphic Packaging

Here are the key news stories impacting Graphic Packaging this week:

Positive Sentiment: Management set an affirmed free cash flow target of $700M–$800M for 2026 and launched cost actions and a portfolio/footprint review — a clear signal management is prioritizing cash generation and restructuring to restore margins. Graphic Packaging targets $700M–$800M free cash flow in 2026 as new CEO initiates cost actions and portfolio review
Positive Sentiment: Capital project progress — Waco site is substantially complete with total projected spend disclosed — reduces near-term capex risk and supports the FCF target. Graphic Packaging Holding Company Reports Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results
Neutral Sentiment: Revenue slightly beat street expectations ($2.10B vs ~$2.04B) even as EPS missed — mixed operational signals that show demand resilience but margin pressure. Company Q4 results and transcript
Negative Sentiment: FY2026 EPS guidance (0.75–1.15) is well below consensus (~1.78), a substantive downward revision that increases near-term investor uncertainty and compresses valuation. GPK guidance update and analyst context
Negative Sentiment: Margins and profitability deteriorated: Q4 net income and EPS declined year-over-year (net income $71M, EPS $0.24 GAAP / $0.29 adjusted), highlighting near-term margin pressure. GPK Q4 deep dive: Margin pressures and cost actions define a transitional quarter
Negative Sentiment: Shares have fallen materially over the past year, reflecting investor concern about secular margin trends and execution; the steep multi-quarter share decline leaves the stock sensitive to guidance and execution updates. Is Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) Now An Opportunity After A 52% Share Price Slide?

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GPK shares. Bank of America reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $13.00 price target on Graphic Packaging in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on Graphic Packaging from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Graphic Packaging in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Graphic Packaging from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $17.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.03 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.11.

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.05). Graphic Packaging had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 19.98%. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. Graphic Packaging’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. Graphic Packaging has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.750-1.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Graphic Packaging Holding Company will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Graphic Packaging Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.11 per share. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Graphic Packaging’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Graphic Packaging

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GPK. Transce3nd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Graphic Packaging by 8.4% in the second quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 6,443 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Graphic Packaging by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 12,280 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Graphic Packaging by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Graphic Packaging by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 13,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Graphic Packaging by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 4,450 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.67% of the company’s stock.

Graphic Packaging Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.