Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Buys 6,757 Shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,557 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.29% of Packaging Co. of America worth $42,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Packaging Co. of America by 19,323.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 30,301 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,936,000 after buying an additional 30,145 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the 4th quarter worth approximately $16,338,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.4% in the 3rd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 5,020 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $771,000 after purchasing an additional 1,890 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 15,884 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,809 shares during the period. Finally, Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund boosted its position in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 16.7% during the third quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 700 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on PKG shares. StockNews.com lowered Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas cut shares of Packaging Co. of America from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $182.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised Packaging Co. of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.29.

Packaging Co. of America Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE PKG opened at $179.89 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $181.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.48. Packaging Co. of America has a 52-week low of $122.20 and a 52-week high of $191.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 2.57. The company has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a PE ratio of 21.21, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.90 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 9.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $1.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. Packaging Co. of America’s payout ratio is 58.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 183,930 shares in the company, valued at $31,967,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 13,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.06, for a total transaction of $2,507,681.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 187,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,975,365.82. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Packaging Co. of America

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.