Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $228.50.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

PKG opened at $175.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $202.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.84. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $250.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.84. 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 (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,928,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 25,461.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 621,387 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,047,000 after purchasing an additional 618,956 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 106.7% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 848,395 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $190,999,000 after purchasing an additional 438,012 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at $72,339,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 642.7% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 271,806 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,192,000 after buying an additional 235,211 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Packaging Co. of America Company Profile

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.