Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $194.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $181.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $190.50.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 0.4 %

PKG stock opened at $215.70 on Friday. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $143.82 and a one year high of $217.69. The stock has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.23 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $202.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $189.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.71.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.14 by $0.06. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,177,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,772 shares in the company, valued at $4,077,128.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,177,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 20,772 shares in the company, valued at $4,077,128.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Charles J. Carter sold 5,389 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.28, for a total transaction of $1,057,752.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 25,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,012,794.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 144,375 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $23,518,000 after acquiring an additional 23,789 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 50,095 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $8,161,000 after buying an additional 2,779 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Packaging Co. of America by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 57,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,379,000 after buying an additional 6,530 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter worth approximately $505,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 269.6% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 27,754 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,521,000 after acquiring an additional 20,244 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.