California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 9,061 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 172,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,061 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of Packaging Co. of America worth $28,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter worth $25,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter worth $46,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 485.7% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 328 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the 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 directly owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,975,365.82. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on PKG shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial upped their price target 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. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.57.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $172.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $181.92 and a 200-day moving average of $168.31. The firm has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 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 earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.2 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 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Packaging Co. of America 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.