Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Hits New 52-Week High at $189.32

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $189.32 and last traded at $189.01, with a volume of 52076 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $187.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PKG. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $147.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 30th. Bank of America upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.33.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market cap of $16.93 billion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $174.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.42.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Packaging Co. of America news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 120.3% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the 1st quarter worth approximately $693,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 162,403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,356,000 after buying an additional 4,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 58.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 24,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,863,000 after buying an additional 9,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

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.