Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

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

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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 restated a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $221.60.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Packaging Co. of America stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $244.14. 495,982 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,673. 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 company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 52 week low of $159.57 and a 52 week high of $250.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $205.39.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 19.10%. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.05 earnings per share. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,211.48. This represents a 22.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,777,145. The trade was a 33.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,000 shares of company stock worth $7,500,905 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. State Street Corp lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $855,212,000 after buying an additional 123,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,937,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $632,654,000 after purchasing an additional 98,223 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,853,417 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $520,920,000 after buying an additional 41,903 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $501,896,000 after buying an additional 12,936 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 8.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,153,732 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,636,000 after acquiring an additional 86,005 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Packaging Co. of America

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.