Ellsworth Advisors LLC Acquires 104 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,052 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the quarter. Packaging Co. of America accounts for about 1.7% of Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $5,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 94.6% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 181 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 60.0% in the fourth quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 264 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PKG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $147.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock 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 two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $165.33.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of PKG traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $189.78. 504,281 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,133. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.01 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.60. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $122.20 and a 52-week high of $190.60.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.30. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. Packaging Co. of America’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.96%.

Packaging Co. of America Profile

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.