Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Pactiv Evergreen Inc. (NASDAQ:PTVE)

Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pactiv Evergreen Inc. (NASDAQ:PTVE) by 1,590.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,963 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,492 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Pactiv Evergreen were worth $139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Pactiv Evergreen in the fourth quarter valued at $270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Pactiv Evergreen by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 145,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,537,000 after purchasing an additional 76,440 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Pactiv Evergreen by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 484,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,579,000 after purchasing an additional 200,873 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pactiv Evergreen by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,088,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,535,000 after purchasing an additional 10,158 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Pactiv Evergreen by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 38,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 11,670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 22.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PTVE. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $15.00) on shares of Pactiv Evergreen in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $14.00) on shares of Pactiv Evergreen in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Pactiv Evergreen from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of Pactiv Evergreen in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.33.

Pactiv Evergreen Stock Up 0.1 %

Pactiv Evergreen stock opened at $17.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $17.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.54. Pactiv Evergreen Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.83 and a 1-year high of $17.81. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of -19.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.26, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 1.04.

Pactiv Evergreen (NASDAQ:PTVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. Pactiv Evergreen had a negative net margin of 3.16% and a positive return on equity of 14.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pactiv Evergreen Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pactiv Evergreen Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Pactiv Evergreen’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -43.48%.

About Pactiv Evergreen

Pactiv Evergreen Inc manufactures and distributes fresh foodservice and food merchandising products, and fresh beverage cartons in the United States, rest of North America, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Foodservice, and Food and Beverage Merchandising. The Foodservice segment offers food containers; drinkware, such as hot and cold cups and lids; and tableware, service ware, and other products.