M&T Bank Corp Lowers Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

M&T Bank Corp trimmed its holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 60,168 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 975 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $13,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,966,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $547,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 8.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $99,194,000 after acquiring an additional 35,614 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,122,000 after acquiring an additional 12,305 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PKG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup upped their price target on 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. StockNews.com upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $205.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $18.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $169.00 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.94.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.99%.

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.