Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $213.40.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on PKG shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Packaging Corporation of America from $239.00 to $238.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Packaging Corporation of America from $197.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $204.06 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $196.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $200.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Packaging Corporation of America has a fifty-two week low of $172.71 and a fifty-two week high of $250.82.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 20.36% and a net margin of 10.47%. Packaging Corporation of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Corporation of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Packaging Corporation of America’s payout ratio is 49.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 108.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,363,617 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $468,045,000 after buying an additional 1,229,219 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 46.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,038,859 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $601,755,000 after acquiring an additional 964,085 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 25,461.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,047,000 after acquiring an additional 618,956 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 106.7% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 848,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,999,000 after purchasing an additional 438,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 114.5% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 689,253 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $136,486,000 after purchasing an additional 367,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

About Packaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers.