Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $1.11 Million Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $1,105,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of PKG opened at $194.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $214.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.57%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 55.99%.

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.