Geode Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 12,936 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned 2.60% of Packaging Co. of America worth $501,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 41,120 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $8,857,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 17,086 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,680,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 205.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 81,370 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $17,527,000 after purchasing an additional 54,765 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 30.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,600,000 after buying an additional 2,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter valued at $1,467,000. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on PKG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (up previously from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $221.60.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:PKG opened at $239.03 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $159.57 and a 52-week high of $250.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $233.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.37. The company has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 27.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.46% and a return on equity of 19.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,576,211.48. This trade represents a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,253.33. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.