Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Shares Purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 1,133.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 250,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 230,422 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $40,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PGGM Investments grew its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 9,792 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 654 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 162,578 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $26,491,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 122,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $19,940,000 after buying an additional 18,774 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,101 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,628 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $920,000 after buying an additional 2,252 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 2.1 %

PKG opened at $176.40 on Monday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $181.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.41. Packaging Co. of America has a 1-year low of $122.20 and a 1-year high of $191.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.78.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. Analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on PKG. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $183.00 to $181.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas cut Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.57.

About Packaging Co. of America

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.