Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Packaging Corporation of America $PKG

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund cut its position in Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) by 17.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,708 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,685 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Packaging Corporation of America were worth $2,697,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,279,442 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,326,159,000 after acquiring an additional 51,790 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,185,761 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $868,349,000 after acquiring an additional 54,884 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $717,372,000 after purchasing an additional 83,978 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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 valued at $683,997,000 after purchasing an additional 231,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,816,736 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $580,897,000 after purchasing an additional 73,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on PKG shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $232.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $246.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $229.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $258.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $256.14.

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Up 0.0%

PKG stock opened at $233.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.80. Packaging Corporation of America has a twelve month low of $189.03 and a twelve month high of $249.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $225.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $221.87.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.23. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.27% and a net margin of 8.04%.The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.330-2.330 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Corporation of America Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $1.50 per share. This is a boost from Packaging Corporation of America’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Packaging Corporation of America’s payout ratio is currently 72.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Corporation of America news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.08, for a total value of $2,011,463.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 473,610 shares in the company, valued at $102,811,258.80. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Corporation of America 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.