Conning Inc. Purchases Shares of 143,602 Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Conning Inc. purchased a new stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 143,602 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,329,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PKG. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,440,000 after purchasing an additional 536,389 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 41,151.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 155,519 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $33,499,000 after purchasing an additional 155,142 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 218.1% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 207,700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,739,000 after purchasing an additional 142,400 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1,800.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 130,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,128,000 after purchasing an additional 123,711 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $855,212,000 after purchasing an additional 123,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PKG. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total transaction of $2,571,555.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. The trade was a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Donald R. Shirley sold 8,000 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.20, for a total transaction of $1,921,600.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 15,725 shares in the company, valued at $3,777,145. This trade represents a 33.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,800 shares of company stock valued at $5,056,402 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $210.03 on Friday. Packaging Co. of America has a 12-month low of $163.68 and a 12-month high of $250.82. The company has a market capitalization of $18.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $230.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.85.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 19.67% and a net margin of 9.60%. On average, research analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.99%.

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.