AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 689.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,533 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,748 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.06% of Packaging Co. of America worth $12,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,831,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 39,704 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,016,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. GEM Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 1,233 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $278,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Certuity LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PKG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,253.33. The trade was a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total value of $2,571,555.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,175,045.71. This represents a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 0.2 %

PKG stock opened at $212.54 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. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $165.20 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The stock has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s 50-day moving average is $226.87 and its 200 day moving average is $221.33.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 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.