TIAA Trust National Association Makes New $264,000 Investment in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

TIAA Trust National Association bought a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,391 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 30.4% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 90,686 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,168,000 after buying an additional 21,143 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 9.1% during the first quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,961 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 116.7% during the first quarter. Twin Tree Management LP now owns 71,880 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,641,000 after purchasing an additional 38,714 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 20.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 107,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,310,000 after purchasing an additional 18,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 46.0% during the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 60,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,545,000 after purchasing an additional 19,171 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PKG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $191.00 to $194.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $186.33.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, Director Karen E. Gowland bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $182.06 per share, with a total value of $54,618.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 916 shares in the company, valued at approximately $166,766.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

PKG traded up $1.94 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $193.15. 258,524 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 623,461. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $183.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $178.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.46, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $136.54 and a 1-year high of $194.42.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.80%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

About Packaging Co. of America

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products.