Short Interest in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Decreases By 22.7%

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a decrease of 22.7% from the January 15th total of 1,810,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 798,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:PKG traded up $0.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $212.54. 806,333 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 948,715. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $165.20 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $226.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.50.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. On average, research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.99%.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In other Packaging Co. of America news, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. This trade represents a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. The trade was a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PKG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers.