Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $233.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PKG. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total value of $563,247.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,252,253.33. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total value of $2,571,555.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. This represents a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 234.7% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 164 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 150.8% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 163 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 44.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 269 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 0.4 %

PKG stock opened at $209.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $229.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.35. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $163.68 and a one year high of $250.82. The stock has a market cap of $18.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. Equities analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.99%.

About Packaging Co. 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.