Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday.

PKG has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $182.20 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Packaging Co. of America has a 12 month low of $122.20 and a 12 month high of $191.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.54.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.30. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other Packaging Co. of America 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 value of $1,825,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total value 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 approximately $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PKG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth about $163,314,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $123,821,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,607,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $645,404,000 after purchasing an additional 663,047 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,790,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $228,969,000 after purchasing an additional 610,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 692,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,486,000 after purchasing an additional 366,636 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.