AXQ Capital LP Decreases Position in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

AXQ Capital LP lowered its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 45.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,112 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,553 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Packaging Co. of America were worth $701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,948,546 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $855,212,000 after buying an additional 123,050 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,069,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $691,138,000 after acquiring an additional 132,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $501,896,000 after acquiring an additional 12,936 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in Packaging Co. of America by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,565,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $352,305,000 after acquiring an additional 101,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 3.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,076,350 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $231,846,000 after purchasing an additional 35,827 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PKG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $215.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $253.00 to $236.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.00.

Packaging Co. of America Price Performance

NYSE PKG opened at $194.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a PE ratio of 21.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.77. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $169.00 and a 52-week high of $250.82. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $214.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.35.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 9.60% and a return on equity of 19.67%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Packaging Co. of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. Packaging Co. of America’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.