Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Earns Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Key Points

• Truist reiterated a Buy rating on Packaging Corporation of America and set a $258 price target (from $260), implying roughly a 20.9% upside from the current price.
• Q1 results delivered an EPS beat ($2.40 vs. $2.17) though revenue missed estimates, management guided Q2 to $2.33 EPS, and MarketBeat shows a consensus "Moderate Buy" target of $228.86.
• Ownership highlights: corporate insiders own 1.6% (the president sold 12,129 shares) while about 89.8% of the float is held by hedge funds and institutional investors.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by Truist Financial in a research note issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $258.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock, down from their previous price target of $260.00. Truist Financial's price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.94% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Packaging Corporation of America from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Argus upgraded shares of Packaging Corporation of America to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating and a $225.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Packaging Corporation of America from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $228.86.

Packaging Corporation of America Price Performance

PKG stock opened at $213.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $217.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.54. Packaging Corporation of America has a 52-week low of $178.30 and a 52-week high of $249.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.90.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.45 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 19.20% and a net margin of 8.04%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.330-2.330 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Thomas A. Hassfurther sold 12,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.50, for a total transaction of $2,795,734.50. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 197,062 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,422,791. This represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,279,442 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,326,159,000 after purchasing an additional 51,790 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,185,761 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $868,349,000 after buying an additional 54,884 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,478,505 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $717,372,000 after buying an additional 83,978 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,316,670 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $683,997,000 after buying an additional 231,474 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,816,736 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $580,897,000 after buying an additional 73,047 shares during the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Packaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America NYSE: PKG is a leading North American manufacturer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products. The company produces a range of paper-based packaging solutions including linerboard, corrugating medium, corrugated shipping containers, retail-ready packaging and point-of-purchase displays. In addition to core packaging products, Packaging Corporation of America offers packaging design, testing and supply-chain services intended to optimize protection, cost and sustainability for customers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, the company operates an integrated network of mills and corrugated manufacturing facilities across the United States and serves customers throughout North America in industries such as e-commerce, grocery and food & beverage, consumer packaged goods and industrial markets.

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