Guidance Capital Inc. Purchases Shares of 5,020 Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Guidance Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $905,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Packaging Co. of America by 1.8% in 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. boosted its stake 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 valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank boosted its stake 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 valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,263 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Karen E. Gowland acquired 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $182.06 per share, for a total transaction of $54,618.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 916 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $166,766.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of PKG stock traded down $0.63 on Friday, hitting $182.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,044,887 shares, compared to its average volume of 483,097. The business has a 50 day moving average of $181.12 and a 200 day moving average of $176.43. The stock has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.46 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $127.69 and a 12-month high of $191.39.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.80%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.33 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $197.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $191.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.29.

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.