Citigroup Boosts Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Price Target to $221.00

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $199.00 to $221.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 3.85% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $194.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $196.17.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Packaging Co. of America stock traded down $2.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.81. 254,723 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 604,558. The firm has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.24 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $143.82 and a 52-week high of $217.69. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.25.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 9.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.31 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, EVP Charles J. Carter sold 5,389 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,057,752.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,539 shares in the company, valued at $5,012,794.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Charles J. Carter sold 5,389 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,057,752.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,012,794.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 6,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total value of $1,177,680.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,077,128.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKG. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 49.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,446,303 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $274,421,000 after acquiring an additional 477,487 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 175.3% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 438,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,401,000 after acquiring an additional 279,059 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 34.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,027,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $187,596,000 after acquiring an additional 262,315 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 164.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 401,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,272,000 after acquiring an additional 249,483 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 31.9% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 783,619 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $127,659,000 after acquiring an additional 189,401 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.