Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp has decreased its holdings in Packaging Co of America (NYSE:PKG) by 0.9% during the first quarter of 2023. The company disclosed this information in its Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
After the sale of 580 shares, the fund now possesses 61,831 shares of the industrial products company’s stock. At the most recent filing with the SEC, these holdings are valued at $8,584,000.
Institutional investors make moves
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp, Vanguard Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Victory Capital Management Inc, Geode Capital Management LLC and Morgan Stanley are among the institutional investors that have recently adjusted their positions in Packaging Co of America.
Mitsubishi has decreased its holdings by 0.9% during the first quarter of 2023.
Vanguard Group Inc increased its stake by 1.4% in the same period, adding 161,559 shares to own a total of 12,047,771 shares valued at $1,880,777,000.
JPMorgan Chase & Co boosted its holdings by 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2022, acquiring an additional 43,430 shares and now owning 3,636,189 shares valued at $465,106,000.
Victory Capital Management Inc raised its stake by 4.0% in the same quarter, adding 125,498 shares and owning a total of 3,261,223 shares valued at $417,143,000.
Geode Capital Management LLC also increased its holdings by 2.5%, adding 48,337 shares and bringing its total ownership to 2,010,961 shares valued at $256,780,000.
Morgan Stanley made a significant move by increasing its stake by 51.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022, acquiring an additional 610,606 shares and owning a total of 1,790,073 shares valued at $228,969,000. Institutional investors collectively own 90.84% of Packaging Co of America’s stock.
Packaging Co of America’s market performance
The company opened at $146.98 on 21 August 2023. The company’s financial health indicators show a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.
In July and August 2023, the company’s stock had an average price of $139.86, while its two-hundred-day moving average price was $137.07. The stock has traded between $110.56 and $158.66 during 2022 and the first half of 2023.
Packaging Co of America now has a market capitalisation of $13.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.90.
Packaging Co of America beats earnings expectations
The company released its most recent earnings report on 25 July 2023. For the second quarter of the year, the industrial products company reported earnings of $2.31 per share, surpassing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by a margin of $0.38.
The company’s revenue for the second quarter stood at $1.95 billion, slightly below analyst estimates of $1.99 billion. The company reported a net margin of 10.79% and a return on equity of 23.30%.
Its revenue for the quarter decreased by 12.7% compared to the same period of 2022 when the company had reported earnings of $3.23 per share.
On average, analysts anticipate that Packaging Co of America will post earnings per share of 8.15 for the fiscal year 2023-24.
Analyst ratings and target price
Several equity analysts have recently provided their assessment of Packaging Co of America. Truist Financial raised its price target on the stock from $140.00 to $156.00, giving it a “buy” rating in a research note on 26 July 2023.
But UBS Group reduced their price target from $137.00 to $132.00 in a research note on 30 June 2023. According to data from MarketBeat, Packaging Co of America currently holds a consensus rating of “hold,” with an average target price of $131.50.
Insider activity
Senior vice-president Donald R Shirley sold 5,000 shares of Packaging Co of America’s stock in a transaction on 4 August 2023.
The shares were sold at an average price of $156.14, resulting in a total transaction value of $780,700.00. Following this sale, Mr. Shirley now holds 22,967 shares in the company, valued at $3,586,067.38. This transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Vice-president Thomas A Hassfurther sold 27,027 shares of Packaging Co. of America stock on 26 July at an average price of $148.80 per share. The total transaction amounted to $4,021,617.60.
Following this transaction, Mr. Hassfurther directly owns 198,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,480,404.80. This sale was also disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC.
Between June and August 2023, insiders collectively sold 59,783 shares of company stock, with a total value of $9,023,216. Corporate insiders currently hold 1.80% of the stock.
