Short Interest in Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Increases By 35.1%

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,228,241 shares, an increase of 35.1% from the February 26th total of 3,870,864 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 943,035 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Corporation of America

In other news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,129 shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.50, for a total value of $2,795,734.50. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 197,062 shares in the company, valued at $45,422,791. The trade was a 5.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Corporation of America

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKG. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,279,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,326,159,000 after purchasing an additional 51,790 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,185,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $868,349,000 after buying an additional 54,884 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,478,505 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $717,372,000 after buying an additional 83,978 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,316,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $683,997,000 after buying an additional 231,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,816,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $580,897,000 after buying an additional 73,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $233.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $238.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research upgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Packaging Corporation of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.00.

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE PKG traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $212.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 630,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,188,670. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.24. Packaging Corporation of America has a twelve month low of $172.71 and a twelve month high of $249.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.17, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.88.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The industrial products company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.41 by ($0.09). Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.20 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Packaging Corporation of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.34%.

Packaging Corporation of America Company Profile

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE: PKG) is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets.