Everence Capital Management Inc. Takes $698,000 Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PKG. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 536,389 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 34.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,027,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $187,596,000 after acquiring an additional 262,315 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 164.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 401,360 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,272,000 after acquiring an additional 249,483 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 41,151.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 155,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,499,000 after acquiring an additional 155,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 218.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 207,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,739,000 after purchasing an additional 142,400 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PKG. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $199.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.33.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of PKG opened at $225.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.29 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $236.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $159.57 and a twelve month high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 58.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total transaction of $3,007,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,211.48. The trade was a 22.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total value of $1,921,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,777,145. This represents a 33.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.