AIA Group Ltd Makes New Investment in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PKG. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 12,710 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,984,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 120.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 2,071 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America during the first quarter worth $693,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 162,403 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,356,000 after purchasing an additional 4,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 58.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 24,748 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,863,000 after purchasing an additional 9,145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total value of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,967,034. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

NYSE PKG opened at $178.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $122.20 and a 1 year high of $191.27. The company has a market capitalization of $16.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $180.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.30.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio 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.