Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PKG. Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. BNP Paribas cut Packaging Co. of America from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.3 %

PKG opened at $179.29 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.88. Packaging Co. of America has a 52 week low of $122.20 and a 52 week high of $191.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.78.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 9.81%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the first quarter worth $207,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 181,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,361,000 after buying an additional 11,921 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,584 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the 1st quarter valued at about $243,000. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,576 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.