Truist Financial Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) Stock Price

Key Points

• Truist Financial has reduced the price target for Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) from $239 to $238, indicating a potential upside of 15.60% from its previous close, while maintaining a "buy" rating.
• Analysts from Wells Fargo raised their target to $200, while Jefferies and Wall Street Zen downgraded PKG from "buy" to "hold" with varying target prices.
• The stock recently traded at $205.89, with a market cap of $18.53 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, reflecting its stable performance amidst mixed analyst ratings.
• Approximately 89.78% of Packaging Corporation of America's stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Free Report) had its price target lowered by Truist Financial from $239.00 to $238.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the industrial products company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $245.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Packaging Corporation of America from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Packaging Corporation of America from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $213.40.

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Performance

Shares of Packaging Corporation of America stock traded up $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $206.42. 629,946 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 697,820. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 3.28 and a quick ratio of 2.15. Packaging Corporation of America has a 1 year low of $172.71 and a 1 year high of $250.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.42.

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The industrial products company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.44 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a return on equity of 20.36% and a net margin of 10.47%. Packaging Corporation of America's revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.20 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Packaging Corporation of America will post 10.44 EPS for the current year.

Packaging Corporation of America Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Packaging Corporation of America's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Packaging Corporation of America

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in Packaging Corporation of America by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 3,771 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $849,000 after buying an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 94,194 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $21,206,000 after purchasing an additional 17,980 shares in the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 96.0% in the 4th quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 71,004 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $15,985,000 after purchasing an additional 34,784 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 141,683 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $32,003,000 after purchasing an additional 14,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Packaging Corporation of America by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 10,462 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $2,355,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. 89.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.