Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $231.33.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PKG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price target (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Co. of America news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total transaction of $1,921,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at $3,777,145. The trade was a 33.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $3,007,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,576,211.48. This represents a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,300 shares of company stock worth $8,064,152 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 227.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after buying an additional 22,397 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,194,000 after acquiring an additional 35,614 shares in the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 10.5% in the second quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 35,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,425,000 after acquiring an additional 3,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 30.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 115,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,772,000 after acquiring an additional 27,018 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE:PKG opened at $227.98 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $235.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.65. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $159.57 and a 1-year high of $250.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.28%.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

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.