Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 3,381 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 463,899 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,381 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.52% of Packaging Co. of America worth $104,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% during the 3rd 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 position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,937,113 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $632,654,000 after acquiring an additional 98,223 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,337,296 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $501,896,000 after acquiring an additional 12,936 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,076,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,846,000 after acquiring an additional 35,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 1,462.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 573,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $123,440,000 after acquiring an additional 536,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Packaging Co. of America

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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,175,045.71. This trade represents a 54.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Vaughn sold 2,300 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 20.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased 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. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued 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. 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 report on Wednesday, December 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PKG opened at $212.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $225.81 and its 200-day moving average is $221.86. 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 52 week low of $167.60 and a 52 week high of $250.82.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Co. of America Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is presently 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.