Norges Bank Purchases New Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,150,125 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,928,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,440,000 after buying an additional 536,389 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth about $50,175,000. Conning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth about $32,329,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,423,715 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,571,821,000 after purchasing an additional 133,575 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PKG has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Down 1.4 %

Packaging Co. of America stock opened at $195.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. Packaging Co. of America has a one year low of $169.00 and a one year high of $250.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $210.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is currently 55.99%.

Packaging Co. of America Company 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.