Earnest Partners LLC Buys 63,942 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 31.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 265,341 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,942 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned 0.30% of Packaging Co. of America worth $50,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,160 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on PKG shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,177,680.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,772 shares in the company, valued at $4,077,128.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Karen E. Gowland bought 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $182.06 per share, for a total transaction of $54,618.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 916 shares in the company, valued at $166,766.96. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,177,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 20,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,077,128.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PKG traded down $0.60 during trading on Monday, reaching $198.40. 390,316 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 629,350. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.82 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 5.20 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $179.75. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $143.82 and a 12-month high of $199.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.74.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.14 by $0.06. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 18.39%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.