Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Stock Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 58.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,432 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 25,115 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Packaging Co. of America worth $11,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,429 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $559,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 5,152 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 1,643 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 16,793 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,736,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 5,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total value of $2,466,395.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total value of $2,466,395.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,967,034. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PKG has been the subject of several research reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. BNP Paribas lowered Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE:PKG traded down $6.71 on Tuesday, reaching $172.58. 674,086 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 688,697. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.88. The firm has a market cap of $15.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.78. Packaging Co. of America has a 12 month low of $122.20 and a 12 month high of $191.27.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 9.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.