California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 9,061 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 172,419 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 9,061 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $28,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,186,729 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $335,772,000 after buying an additional 11,536 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Packaging Co. of America by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,337,507 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $205,389,000 after buying an additional 58,444 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,154,823 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $177,323,000 after purchasing an additional 131,058 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners bought a new stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 3rd quarter valued at about $123,821,000. Finally, Atlas FRM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Atlas FRM LLC now owns 460,000 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,633,000 after purchasing an additional 70,000 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

PKG opened at $172.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $15.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.78. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $122.20 and a 52-week high of $191.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.31.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on PKG. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $187.00 to $191.00 in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $170.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.57.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total transaction of $2,466,395.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock worth $6,799,177 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Packaging Co. of America Company 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.