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

Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $238.67.

PKG has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $252.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,881 shares in the company, valued at $2,175,045.71. The trade was a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of Packaging Co. of America 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 owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,252,253.33. The trade was 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 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 794.6% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $698,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of PKG opened at $228.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market cap of $20.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $159.57 and a 1 year high of $250.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $214.61.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted 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. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 19.10%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 58.28%.

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.