Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Declares $1.25 Quarterly Dividend

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, December 10th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of 1.25 per share by the industrial products company on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%.

Packaging Co. of America has increased its dividend by an average of 14.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Packaging Co. of America has a payout ratio of 44.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Packaging Co. of America to earn $11.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 44.9%.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE PKG traded down $1.40 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $238.23. 465,109 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 601,529. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $159.57 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $207.55.

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 (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.09 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. This trade represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $3,007,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,211.48. The trade was a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PKG. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $221.60.

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.