Packaging Co. of America Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.25 (NYSE:PKG)

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.25 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%.

Packaging Co. of America has raised its dividend by an average of 14.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Packaging Co. of America has a dividend payout ratio of 44.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Packaging Co. of America to earn $11.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.9%.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE PKG traded down $0.36 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.87. 32,590 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 599,188. 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 twelve month low of $159.57 and a twelve month high of $250.82. The company has a market cap of $21.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $207.94.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Packaging Co. of America news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,777,145. The trade was a 33.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 43,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,211.48. This represents a 22.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,300 shares of company stock worth $8,064,152. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PKG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 target price (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.60.

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.