Stephens Inc. AR Has $18.47 Million Stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 82,061 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $18,474,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PKG. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.1% in the 4th 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. increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,586 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 371 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.3% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PKG shares. StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $210.03 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $230.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $221.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a PE ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $163.68 and a 1-year high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly 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, equities analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. The trade was a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total transaction of $1,921,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,777,145. The trade was a 33.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,800 shares of company stock worth $5,056,402. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.