Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Earns Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Free Report) in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $265.00 target price on the industrial products company's stock, down from their previous target price of $282.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $211.43. The stock had a trading volume of 816,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,148. The company has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.79. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $159.57 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $234.01 and a 200-day moving average of $220.60. 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 (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. Packaging Co. of America's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $3,007,750.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,576,211.48. The trade was a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was 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 owns 8,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,175,045.71. The trade was a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 33,300 shares of company stock worth $8,064,152 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth about $135,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $466,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 66,382 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $14,945,000 after acquiring an additional 3,526 shares during the period. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,618 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 138 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.