Comparing Packaging Corporation of America (PKG) & Its Peers

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) is one of 70 publicly-traded companies in the “Containers & Packaging” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Packaging Corporation of America to similar businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, profitability and risk.

Dividends

Packaging Corporation of America pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Packaging Corporation of America pays out 73.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.9% and pay out -78.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Corporation of America lags its competitors as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Packaging Corporation of America has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Packaging Corporation of America’s competitors have a beta of 0.76, indicating that their average stock price is 24% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Packaging Corporation of America and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Packaging Corporation of America	0	3	6	1	2.80
Packaging Corporation of America Competitors	399	2377	3456	86	2.51

Packaging Corporation of America currently has a consensus target price of $275.43, suggesting a potential upside of 7.11%. As a group, “Containers & Packaging” companies have a potential upside of 38.29%. Given Packaging Corporation of America’s competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Packaging Corporation of America has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Packaging Corporation of America and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Packaging Corporation of America	$8.99 billion	$774.10 million	31.67
Packaging Corporation of America Competitors	$6.03 billion	$213.75 million	11.69

Packaging Corporation of America has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Packaging Corporation of America is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

89.8% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.3% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of shares of all “Containers & Packaging” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Packaging Corporation of America and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Packaging Corporation of America	7.40%	19.63%	8.36%
Packaging Corporation of America Competitors	-22.66%	5.16%	1.61%

Summary

Packaging Corporation of America beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

Packaging Corporation of America Company Profile

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. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on transportation assets, such as rail cars, and trucks. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, IL.