Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,400,000 shares, a decline of 22.7% from the January 15th total of 1,810,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 798,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Co. of America news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. This trade represents a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. This represents a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,423,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,571,821,000 after purchasing an additional 133,575 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% during the third 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 shares of Packaging Co. of America by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,069,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $691,138,000 after buying an additional 132,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,366,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $531,540,000 after buying an additional 29,427 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,853,092 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $417,187,000 after buying an additional 14,775 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 3.6 %

PKG stock opened at $212.01 on Friday. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $164.20 and a one year high of $250.82. 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 fifty day moving average of $227.47 and a 200-day moving average of $221.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its 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 net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. As a group, analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

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

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.