Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Invests $1.83 Million in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 8,132 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,831,000. Packaging Co. of America comprises approximately 1.6% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $855,212,000 after acquiring an additional 123,050 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Packaging Co. of America by 3.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,937,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $632,654,000 after purchasing an additional 98,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Packaging Co. of America by 0.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $501,896,000 after buying an additional 12,936 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $231,846,000 after buying an additional 35,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PKG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on Packaging Co. of America from $232.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price (down previously from $282.00) on shares of Packaging Co. of America in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Packaging Co. of America currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of PKG stock opened at $212.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 1 year low of $164.20 and a 1 year high of $250.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.95, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 20th were given a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.99%.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

In other news, Director Paul T. Stecko sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $244.91, for a total value of $2,571,555.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,175,045.71. This represents a 54.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $244.89, for a total transaction of $563,247.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 9,197 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.