Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $269.00 to $271.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Packaging Corporation of America traded as high as $251.91 and last traded at $246.8870, with a volume of 634820 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $233.90.

PKG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $246.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $232.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $256.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Packaging Corporation of America from $242.00 to $263.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.08, for a total value of $2,011,463.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 473,610 shares in the company, valued at $102,811,258.80. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Packaging Corporation of America

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 140.0% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA boosted its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Navalign LLC bought a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Up 7.7%

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $226.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.80.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.25%.The business had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.48 earnings per share. Packaging Corporation of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.910-2.910 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Corporation of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.50 dividend. This is an increase from Packaging Corporation of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $6.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Packaging Corporation of America’s payout ratio is 72.99%.

About Packaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets.