Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $264.5714.

PKG has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $241.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $271.00 to $292.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th.

Packaging Corporation of America Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $237.51 on Wednesday. Packaging Corporation of America has a one year low of $191.50 and a one year high of $259.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $242.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.61.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 7.25%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.48 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.910-2.910 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Corporation of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Packaging Corporation of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.92%.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Corporation of America

In other news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,531 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $3,132,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 218,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $54,687,750. This trade represents a 5.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Donald R. Shirley sold 12,000 shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.71, for a total value of $3,008,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 19,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,791,068.10. This represents a 38.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,391 shares of company stock worth $10,196,101 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Corporation of America

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 23,647.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 24,687,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,882,588,000 after acquiring an additional 24,583,753 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,837,506,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,185,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $868,349,000 after purchasing an additional 54,884 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,478,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $717,372,000 after purchasing an additional 83,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,316,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $683,997,000 after purchasing an additional 231,474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

About Packaging Corporation of America

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.