Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

PKG has been the subject of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 1.0 %

PKG opened at $210.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.28. Packaging Co. of America has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $250.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. This trade represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at $258,928,000. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 536,389 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Packaging Co. 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. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,339,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 642.7% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 271,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,192,000 after buying an additional 235,211 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

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.