Truist Financial Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Truist Financial in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $265.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $282.00. Truist Financial’s target price suggests a potential upside of 24.71% from the stock’s previous close.

PKG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.8 %

Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $212.49 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $19.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $234.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.19.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 11.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $3,007,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 43,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,211.48. This trade represents a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total value 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. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 93.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 7,147 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,457 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,683 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 24,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

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.