Argus Upgrades Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) to Strong-Buy

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) was upgraded by Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $226.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.00.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

Shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock opened at $231.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The company has a market cap of $20.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $223.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.03. Packaging Corporation of America has a fifty-two week low of $172.71 and a fifty-two week high of $249.51.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.41 by ($0.09). Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.18% and a net margin of 8.61%.The company had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,129 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.50, for a total value of $2,795,734.50. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 197,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,422,791. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Corporation of America

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the 3rd quarter valued at $485,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 220,499 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $48,053,000 after acquiring an additional 20,016 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in Packaging Corporation of America in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,306,000. Atlas FRM LLC increased its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 59.7% in the 2nd quarter. Atlas FRM LLC now owns 535,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,821,000 after purchasing an additional 200,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 32.2% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 12,679 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,085 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Packaging Corporation of America Company Profile

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets.