AIA Group Ltd Takes $1.24 Million Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

AIA Group Ltd purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 7,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,241,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PKG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter valued at about $118,827,000. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,821,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,607,784 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $645,404,000 after buying an additional 663,047 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,790,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $228,969,000 after buying an additional 610,606 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 112.6% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 692,236 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $91,486,000 after buying an additional 366,636 shares during the period. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In related news, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 187,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,975,365.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on PKG shares. Bank of America raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas downgraded 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. Truist Financial boosted 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 downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $178.25 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.30. The company has a market cap of $16.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 0.78. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $122.20 and a fifty-two week high of $191.27.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.81% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.96%.

Packaging Co. of America 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.