Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $236.00.

PKG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Packaging Corporation of America from $230.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Packaging Corporation of America from $233.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research raised Packaging Corporation of America from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Argus raised Packaging Corporation of America to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

PKG stock opened at $216.01 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $19.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.21, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.60. Packaging Corporation of America has a twelve month low of $172.71 and a twelve month high of $249.51.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.43 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 8.61% and a return on equity of 19.22%. The business’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 earnings per share. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.20 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Packaging Corporation of America’s payout ratio is 58.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,129 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 105.4% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 115 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in Packaging Corporation of America during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 140.0% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 156 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA increased its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 94.1% in the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 165 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

About Packaging Corporation of America

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.