Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $104.45 Million Stock Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 463,899 shares of the industrial products company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.52% of Packaging Co. of America worth $104,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $4,366,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth $6,966,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $547,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 227.5% in the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,243 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,945,000 after acquiring an additional 22,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 30.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 115,005 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $24,772,000 after acquiring an additional 27,018 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PKG has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of 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 objective (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG traded down $2.82 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $209.49. 636,242 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 932,129. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $224.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. Packaging Co. of America has a 52 week low of $169.00 and a 52 week high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. Sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

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

Packaging Co. of America Profile

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.