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

StockNews.com cut shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 1.5 %

PKG stock opened at $194.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 2.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $169.00 and a twelve month high of $250.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.47.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 55.99%.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 1,405 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.