Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Receives $221.60 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $221.60.

Several equities analysts recently commented on PKG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $252.00 price objective (up previously from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of PKG opened at $244.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $223.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $201.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 0.76. Packaging Co. of America has a 52 week low of $151.74 and a 52 week high of $248.62.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.15. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. The company's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Packaging Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total value of $1,921,600.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,777,145. This represents a 33.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $3,007,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,576,211.48. The trade was a 22.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $855,212,000 after purchasing an additional 123,050 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,937,113 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $632,654,000 after acquiring an additional 98,223 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 1.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,853,417 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $520,920,000 after acquiring an additional 41,903 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $501,896,000 after acquiring an additional 12,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 49.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,446,303 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $274,421,000 after acquiring an additional 477,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company's stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company 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.