Swiss National Bank Increases Stake in Packaging Corporation of America $PKG

Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 264,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned 0.30% of Packaging Corporation of America worth $56,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,345 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 5,362 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 198 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Corporation of America

In related news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.08, for a total transaction of $2,011,463.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 473,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,811,258.80. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PKG shares. Truist Financial increased their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $242.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $232.00 to $248.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $229.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Packaging Corporation of America currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.14.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $228.16 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.80. Packaging Corporation of America has a twelve month low of $189.03 and a twelve month high of $249.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $226.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.23. The business had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from Packaging Corporation of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Packaging Corporation of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 72.99%.

Packaging Corporation of America Profile

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets.