California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Packaging Corporation of America $PKG

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 153,476 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,830 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Packaging Corporation of America were worth $32,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 140.0% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA boosted its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 94.1% during the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Navalign LLC purchased a new position in Packaging Corporation of America during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $246.00 target price (up from $245.00) on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $229.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group raised Packaging Corporation of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $232.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Packaging Corporation of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $256.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Packaging Corporation of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $256.14.

Packaging Corporation of America Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock opened at $228.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $20.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 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 company’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a positive change from Packaging Corporation of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. 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 (DPR) is currently 72.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $217.08, for a total value of $2,011,463.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 473,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,811,258.80. This trade represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% 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.