Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $173.57.

PKG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. BNP Paribas downgraded 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, April 12th. Bank of America raised Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,210,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $360,031,000 after buying an additional 55,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 0.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,186,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $335,772,000 after purchasing an additional 11,536 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 4.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,337,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,389,000 after purchasing an additional 58,444 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,182,797 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $192,689,000 after purchasing an additional 27,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth about $163,314,000. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $176.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $182.28 and its 200 day moving average is $169.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $122.20 and a 1 year high of $191.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.80.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

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.