Citigroup Cuts Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Price Target to $181.00

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $183.00 to $181.00 in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised Packaging Co. of America from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas lowered Packaging Co. of America from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $182.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Packaging Co. of America from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the company from $187.00 to $191.00 in a report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $173.57.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $171.25 on Thursday. Packaging Co. of America has a 12 month low of $122.20 and a 12 month high of $191.27. The company has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.06.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.20 earnings per share. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.24 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Packaging Co. of America

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products.