Packaging Corporation of America's (PKG) "Equal Weight" Rating Reiterated at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo reiterated an “equal weight” rating on Packaging Corporation of America and slightly raised its price target to $246 from $245, implying about 9.56% upside from the prior close.
• Other analysts remain generally positive on PKG, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $245.17. Recent calls include buy ratings from Truist, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan, while Citigroup stayed neutral.
• PKG recently reported Q1 earnings of $2.40 per share, beating estimates, though revenue came in below expectations at $2.37 billion. The stock was trading down 3.4% in the session discussed, around $224.53.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reiterated by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $246.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $245.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.56% from the company's previous close.

PKG has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $258.00 price objective (down from $260.00) on shares of Packaging Corporation of America in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings cut Packaging Corporation of America from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $225.00 to $256.00 in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $227.00 to $217.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Packaging Corporation of America from $225.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Packaging Corporation of America has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $245.17.

Packaging Corporation of America Trading Down 3.4%

PKG stock opened at $224.53 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 3.07. Packaging Corporation of America has a one year low of $189.03 and a one year high of $249.51. The company's 50 day moving average price is $224.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.81.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.45 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 8.04% and a return on equity of 19.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 EPS. Packaging Corporation of America has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.330-2.330 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Packaging Corporation of America

In other news, CEO Mark W. Kowlzan sold 9,266 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $217.08, for a total transaction of $2,011,463.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 473,610 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,811,258.80. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $237,649,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 223.6% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,516,562 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $330,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,902 shares in the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Packaging Corporation of America by 19,710.3% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 893,446 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $189,607,000 after purchasing an additional 888,936 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 29.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,309,412 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $476,270,000 after purchasing an additional 521,352 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Packaging Corporation of America by 100.3% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 983,216 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $202,769,000 after purchasing an additional 492,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.78% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.