Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) to "Overweight"

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $191.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $187.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on PKG. StockNews.com lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Packaging Co. of America from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $182.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Packaging Co. of America from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $172.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Packaging Co. of America from $172.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Packaging Co. of America presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $173.86.

Packaging Co. of America Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PKG traded up $3.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $173.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 701,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.61 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 4.35 and a beta of 0.78. Packaging Co. of America has a twelve month low of $122.20 and a twelve month high of $191.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $181.56 and a 200 day moving average of $168.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The industrial products company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Packaging Co. of America had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Packaging Co. of America will post 8.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Packaging Co. of America Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Packaging Co. of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Packaging Co. of America news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of Packaging Co. of America 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $31,967,034. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 14,191 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.80, for a total value of $2,466,395.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 183,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,967,034. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert P. Mundy sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.51, for a total transaction of $1,825,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,454 shares in the company, valued at $8,478,319.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,041 shares of company stock valued at $6,799,177 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Packaging Co. of America by 60.5% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 183 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gables Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Packaging Co. of America in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.78% of the company's stock.

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.