Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $173.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $181.56 and its 200 day moving average is $168.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.57. Packaging Co. of America has a fifty-two week low of $122.20 and a fifty-two week high of $191.27.

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 given a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas cut Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the business’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company 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.