Kera Capital Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 934 Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 934 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $855,212,000 after buying an additional 123,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,937,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $632,654,000 after acquiring an additional 98,223 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $501,896,000 after acquiring an additional 12,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,076,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,846,000 after purchasing an additional 35,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 34.3% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,027,585 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $187,596,000 after purchasing an additional 262,315 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total value of $1,921,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at $3,777,145. This represents a 33.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total value of $563,247.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,252,253.33. The trade was a 20.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,300 shares of company stock worth $8,064,152 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PKG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $235.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Packaging Co. of America from $252.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.67.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of PKG stock opened at $237.52 on Monday. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $159.57 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.95 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.15.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.50 by $0.15. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.10% and a net margin of 9.46%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 9.08 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.28%.

Packaging Co. of America Profile

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers.