Graphic Packaging (GPK) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Graphic Packaging (GPK) closed at $22.90, marking a +0.31% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily loss of 1.64%. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 1.08%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.82%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the packaging company had gained 5.79% over the past month. This has outpaced the Industrial Products sector's loss of 0.38% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.89% in that time.

Graphic Packaging will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.73, up 8.96% from the prior-year quarter. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $2.49 billion, up 1.52% from the year-ago period.

GPK's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $2.84 per share and revenue of $9.8 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +21.89% and +3.83%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Graphic Packaging. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection remained stagnant. Graphic Packaging currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Graphic Packaging is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 8.03. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 11.78, which means Graphic Packaging is trading at a discount to the group.

It is also worth noting that GPK currently has a PEG ratio of 0.32. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Containers - Paper and Packaging was holding an average PEG ratio of 2.9 at yesterday's closing price.

The Containers - Paper and Packaging industry is part of the Industrial Products sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 112, putting it in the top 45% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

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