Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) Stock Price

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $232.00 to $235.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.16% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on PKG. Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $252.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.67.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

PKG stock opened at $225.61 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $214.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $159.57 and a 12-month high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.15. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Packaging Co. of America’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total transaction of $1,921,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at $3,777,145. This trade represents a 33.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 12,500 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.62, for a total value of $3,007,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 43,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,576,211.48. This represents a 22.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,300 shares of company stock valued at $8,064,152 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Packaging Co. of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,366,000 after buying an additional 2,946 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,194,000 after acquiring an additional 35,614 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 227.5% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 32,243 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,945,000 after purchasing an additional 22,397 shares during the last quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 35,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,425,000 after purchasing an additional 3,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 30.7% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 115,005 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,772,000 after purchasing an additional 27,018 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Packaging Co. of America

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers.