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

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.67.

A number of research firms have commented on PKG. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $252.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $235.14 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 27.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $235.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.22. Packaging Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $159.57 and a fifty-two week high of $250.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.15. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 19.10%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Packaging Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total value of $563,247.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,253.33. The trade was a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,175,045.71. This trade represents a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,300 shares of company stock worth $8,064,152 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 234.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 150.8% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 44.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Packaging Co. of America

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.