Swiss National Bank Sells 8,200 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 281,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 8,200 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $45,794,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the fourth quarter worth approximately $880,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 19,323.7% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,936,000 after acquiring an additional 30,145 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at $16,338,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total value of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on PKG. 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 note on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $173.57.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $176.15 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $182.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.40. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $122.20 and a 1-year high of $191.27. The firm has a market cap of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 22.02, a PEG ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 9.25%. Packaging Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.