Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 3,111 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,148 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,111 shares during the quarter. Packaging Co. of America comprises about 1.9% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $1,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PKG. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 408.8% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 62,986 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $9,672,000 after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 152.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 38,953 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $5,981,000 after acquiring an additional 23,519 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 12,367 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PKG shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $191.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.57.

Insider Activity at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total value of $2,507,681.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

Shares of Packaging Co. of America stock traded up $1.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $175.40. 481,365 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,276. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $122.20 and a twelve month high of $191.27. The company has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $182.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.