Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) to “Overweight”

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $191.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $187.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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 research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $173.86.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 1.8 %

PKG stock opened at $173.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $181.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.02. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $122.20 and a one year high of $191.27. The stock has a market cap of $15.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.78.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.24 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In other Packaging Co. of America news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,951,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 32.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,136,000 after buying an additional 5,394 shares during the period. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 7.0% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 181,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,361,000 after buying an additional 11,921 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

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.