AXS Investments LLC Invests $766,000 in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

AXS Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $766,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $791,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of PKG traded up $3.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 394,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 519,432. The company has a 50 day moving average of $181.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.05. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $122.20 and a 1-year high of $191.27. The firm has a market cap of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a P/E/G ratio of 7.70 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 18.80% and a net margin of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PKG shares. Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.57.

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.