Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,433 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 835 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $5,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,047,771 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,880,777,000 after purchasing an additional 161,559 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,048,220 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,256,164,000 after purchasing an additional 151,624 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,607,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $645,404,000 after purchasing an additional 663,047 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,186,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $335,772,000 after purchasing an additional 11,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,065,992 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $286,214,000 after purchasing an additional 55,031 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PKG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price objective 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. Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $182.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $179.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.77. The company has a market capitalization of $16.35 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.78. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $122.20 and a 1 year high of $191.27.

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

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

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.