Vest Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Packaging Corporation of America $PKG

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC decreased its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 8.2%, owning 14,211 shares valued at $2,678,000 after selling 1,276 shares in the second quarter.
• Insider activity includes CEO Mark W. Kowlzan selling 25,000 shares for over $5 million, resulting in a 5.41% decrease in his position.
• Packaging Corporation of America has received positive analysts' ratings, with several firms raising their target prices, indicating a consensus of a Moderate Buy and an average target price of $229.50.

Vest Financial LLC reduced its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Free Report) by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,211 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 1,276 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC's holdings in Packaging Corporation of America were worth $2,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PKG. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 108.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,363,617 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $468,045,000 after buying an additional 1,229,219 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 46.5% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,038,859 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $601,755,000 after buying an additional 964,085 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 114.5% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 689,253 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $136,486,000 after buying an additional 367,933 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America in the first quarter worth about $66,091,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 377.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 262,203 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $49,412,000 after buying an additional 207,244 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.97, for a total transaction of $5,399,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 437,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at $94,460,526.66. This represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $220.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $214.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Corporation of America from $262.00 to $264.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Packaging Corporation of America presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $229.50.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

Packaging Corporation of America stock opened at $210.92 on Wednesday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $209.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.52. The company has a market capitalization of $18.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.91. Packaging Corporation of America has a 1 year low of $172.71 and a 1 year high of $250.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.32 and a current ratio of 3.54.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 10.47% and a return on equity of 20.08%. The business's revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.20 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.800-2.800 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Packaging Corporation of America's payout ratio is 49.90%.

About Packaging Corporation of America

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.

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