Lifeworks Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Lifeworks Advisors LLC cut its stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 43.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,033 shares during the quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PKG. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 20,270 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at $6,966,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,431 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 8.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 460,518 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $99,194,000 after buying an additional 35,614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 89,380 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $20,122,000 after buying an additional 12,305 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $206.82 on Friday. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $169.00 and a 1 year high of $250.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $219.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $222.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 2.95. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.99%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on PKG. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective (down from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Two equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

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.