Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wells Fargo & Company

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) was downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

PKG has been the topic of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $229.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $246.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $258.00 target price (down from $260.00) on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.00.

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $224.90 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $20.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.80. Packaging Corporation of America has a 52-week low of $189.03 and a 52-week high of $249.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $224.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.97.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.23. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 8.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.330-2.330 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Corporation of America news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Corporation of America

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PKG. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Packaging Corporation of America in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Packaging Corporation of America during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 94.1% during the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.