Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on PKG. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $212.86 on Wednesday. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $250.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50 day moving average is $222.82 and its 200 day moving average is $222.36. The company has a market cap of $19.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,252,253.33. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,928,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,440,000 after acquiring an additional 536,389 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 106.7% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 848,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $190,999,000 after acquiring an additional 438,012 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth $72,339,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 642.7% during the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 271,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,192,000 after purchasing an additional 235,211 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.