Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $280.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $215.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $252.00 price objective (up from $242.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup boosted their price target on 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $231.33.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of PKG stock opened at $227.98 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. The company has a market capitalization of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.77. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $159.57 and a one year high of $250.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $234.92 and its 200 day moving average is $210.14.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,253.33. This trade represents a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total value of $2,571,555.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,881 shares in the company, valued at $2,175,045.71. This represents a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Co. of America

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 227.5% in the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,397 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 35,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 3,355 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 115,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $24,772,000 after buying an additional 27,018 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 256.3% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 7,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after buying an additional 5,560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.