Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Downgraded by BNP Paribas to Neutral

BNP Paribas cut shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $182.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on PKG. Citigroup increased their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of PKG opened at $180.36 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.78. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $122.20 and a one year high of $191.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $180.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.96.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 9.81%. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 58.96%.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 94.6% during the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

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.