Packaging Corporation of America (PKG) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. Its operations span production of both recycled-fiber containerboard and virgin-fiber grades, and the company maintains logistics and converting capabilities to support regional and national supply requirements.

Packaging Corporation of America is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker PKG and has expanded its footprint through investments in manufacturing capacity and strategic growth initiatives. The company emphasizes sustainability and recycling as part of its product and operational strategy, reflecting the cyclical and resource-focused nature of the paperboard and corrugated packaging sector. Packaging Corporation of America is managed by a corporate leadership team and board of directors responsible for executing its manufacturing, commercial and sustainability objectives.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $211.59 to $218.61
• 50-Day Range: $202.15 to $227.31
• 52-Week Range: $184.76 to $249.51
• Volume: 496,433 shs
• Average Volume: 855,378 shs
• Market Capitalization: $18.88 billion
• P/E Ratio: 25.78
• Dividend Yield: 2.36%
• Price Target: $234.29
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Packaging Corporation of America scored higher than 82% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 61st out of 176 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.2 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Packaging Corporation of America has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.70, and is based on 1 strong buy rating, 5 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Packaging Corporation of America has a consensus price target of $234.29, representing about 10.6% upside from its current price of $211.92.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Packaging Corporation of America has been the subject of 8 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 15.54%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Packaging Corporation of America are expected to grow by 15.54% in the coming year, from $10.81 to $12.49 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Packaging Corporation of America is 25.78, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.79.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Packaging Corporation of America is 25.78, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 25.15.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Packaging Corporation of America has a PEG Ratio of 1.92. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Packaging Corporation of America has a P/B Ratio of 4.15. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.44% of the float of Packaging Corporation of America has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Packaging Corporation of America has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.7, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Packaging Corporation of America has recently increased by 14.24%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Packaging Corporation of America pays a meaningful dividend of 2.36%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Packaging Corporation of America does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Packaging Corporation of America is 60.83%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Packaging Corporation of America will have a dividend payout ratio of 40.03% next year. This indicates that Packaging Corporation of America will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.60

News Sentiment

Packaging Corporation of America has a news sentiment score of 0.60. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This news sentiment score is similar to the average news sentiment of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 6 news articles for Packaging Corporation of America this week, compared to 5 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

9 people have searched for PKG on MarketBeat in the last 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Packaging Corporation of America insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.60% of the stock of Packaging Corporation of America is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

89.78% of the stock of Packaging Corporation of America is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 4/15 Dividend: 3/13/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 4/15 Dividend: 3/13/2026
• Dividend Payable: 4/15/2026
• Last Earnings: 4/22/2026
• Today: 5/17/2026
• Record date for 7/15 Dividend: 6/15/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 7/15 Dividend: 6/15/2026
• Dividend Payable: 7/15/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 7/22/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: CONTNRS - PPR/PLS
• Sub-Industry: Paper Packaging
• Current Symbol: NYSE:PKG
• CIK: 75677
• Web: www.packagingcorp.com
• Phone: (847) 482-3000
• Fax: 847-482-4545
• Employees: 16,800
• Year Founded: 1959

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Packaging Corporation of America: $234.29
• High Price Target: $258.00
• Low Price Target: $205.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +10.6%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.70
• Research Coverage: 10 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $8.22
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 25.78
• Forward P/E Ratio: 19.60
• P/E Growth: 1.92
• Net Income: $774.10 million
• Net Margins: 8.04%
• Pretax Margin: 10.64%
• Return on Equity: 19.27%
• Return on Assets: 8.62%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.87
• Current Ratio: 3.07
• Quick Ratio: 1.88

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $8.99 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.10
• Cash Flow: $17.17 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 12.34
• Book Value: $51.10 per share
• Price / Book: 4.15

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 89,100,000
• Free Float: 87,673,000
• Market Cap: $18.88 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.81