Packaging Co. of America Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.25 (NYSE:PKG)

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.25 per share by the industrial products company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th.

Packaging Co. of America has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.7% per year over the last three years. Packaging Co. of America has a payout ratio of 42.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Packaging Co. of America to earn $11.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 43.8%.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE PKG opened at $210.72 on Friday. Packaging Co. of America has a 12 month low of $169.00 and a 12 month high of $250.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PKG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Packaging Co. of America news, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total value of $563,247.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,252,253.33. This trade represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.