Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $236.00.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $226.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th.

Packaging Corporation of America Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of PKG stock opened at $221.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.17. Packaging Corporation of America has a 1 year low of $172.71 and a 1 year high of $249.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.75 billion, a PE ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.88.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.41 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 8.61%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.47 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Packaging Corporation of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,129 shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.50, for a total transaction of $2,795,734.50. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 197,062 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,422,791. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Corporation of America

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 105.4% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Packaging Corporation of America in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in Packaging Corporation of America in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 140.0% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 94.1% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.