Graphic Packaging (GPK) Competitors

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) and Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) are both industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, community ranking, risk and valuation.

Which has more volatility and risk, GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Packaging Co. of America has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GPK or PKG more profitable?

Packaging Co. of America has a net margin of 9.60% compared to Graphic Packaging's net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging's return on equity of 25.96% beat Packaging Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.47%	25.96%	6.81%
Packaging Co. of America	9.60%	19.67%	9.19%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GPK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America received 22 more outperform votes than Graphic Packaging when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.86% of users gave Graphic Packaging an outperform vote while only 59.38% of users gave Packaging Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Graphic Packaging	Outperform Votes 516 63.86%	Underperform Votes 292 36.14%
Packaging Co. of America	Outperform Votes 538 59.38%	Underperform Votes 368 40.62%

Does the media prefer GPK or PKG?

In the previous week, Packaging Co. of America had 6 more articles in the media than Graphic Packaging. MarketBeat recorded 26 mentions for Packaging Co. of America and 20 mentions for Graphic Packaging. Packaging Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.05 beat Graphic Packaging's score of 0.92 indicating that Packaging Co. of America is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Graphic Packaging	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Packaging Co. of America	18 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, GPK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Graphic Packaging. Graphic Packaging is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Packaging Co. of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Graphic Packaging	$8.81B	0.73	$658M	$2.16	9.81
Packaging Co. of America	$8.54B	1.94	$805.10M	$9.56	19.24

Is GPK or PKG a better dividend stock?

Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Packaging Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Graphic Packaging pays out 20.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Co. of America pays out 52.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Do insiders and institutionals believe in GPK or PKG?

99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Packaging Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Packaging Co. of America shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus price target of $30.89, indicating a potential upside of 45.76%. Packaging Co. of America has a consensus price target of $231.60, indicating a potential upside of 25.90%. Given Graphic Packaging's higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Graphic Packaging is more favorable than Packaging Co. of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Graphic Packaging	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.57
Packaging Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Summary

Packaging Co. of America beats Graphic Packaging on 14 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.