Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,423,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 133,575 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 12.72% of Packaging Co. of America worth $2,571,821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the 4th quarter valued at about $567,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,349,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,451 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after buying an additional 2,669 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $779,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter worth $5,084,000. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $198.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $212.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.43. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released 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 expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PKG shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.00.

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.