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

Company Overview

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) is a leading producer of containerboard and corrugated packaging products in North America. The company manufactures a broad range of containerboard grades, including linerboard and medium, which serve as the essential raw materials for corrugated boxes. In addition to standard corrugated containers, Packaging Corporation of America offers custom-designed packaging solutions such as retail-ready displays, heavy-duty industrial boxes and die-cut packaging to support customers across the food and beverage, consumer durables, e-commerce and industrial sectors.

Founded as a paperboard manufacturer, Packaging Corporation of America has grown through strategic expansions and acquisitions to operate an integrated network of containerboard mills and corrugated products plants across the United States. The company sources recycled and virgin fibers to produce sustainable packaging materials, leveraging its recycling procurement and manufacturing expertise to meet evolving environmental standards. With distribution and sales offices throughout North America—including the U.S., Canada and Mexico—Packaging Corporation of America serves a diverse customer base ranging from multinational consumer goods companies to regional distributors and retailers.

Headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois, Packaging Corporation of America is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Mark W. Kowlzan. Under his leadership, the company has emphasized operational efficiency, innovation in recycling and fiber utilization, and investments in capacity expansions to address growing demand for sustainable packaging. Packaging Corporation of America continues to focus on technology-driven solutions and supply-chain reliability to strengthen its position in the global packaging market.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $199.10 to $202.44
• 50-Day Range: $181.42 to $207.26
• 52-Week Range: $172.72 to $250.82
• Volume: 913,585 shs
• Average Volume: 748,825 shs
• Market Capitalization: $17.98 billion
• P/E Ratio: 20.90
• Dividend Yield: 2.50%
• Price Target: $217.80
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Packaging Corporation of America Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Packaging Corporation of America scored higher than 81% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 51st out of 182 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: 1.3 / 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 2.50, and is based on 1 buy rating, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Packaging Corporation of America has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 9.29%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Packaging Corporation of America are expected to grow by 9.29% in the coming year, from $10.44 to $11.41 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Packaging Corporation of America is 20.89, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.50.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Packaging Corporation of America is 20.89, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 25.23.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Packaging Corporation of America has a PEG Ratio of 2.68. 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 4.07. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Healthy

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.14% 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 2.3, 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 decreased by 4.57%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Packaging Corporation of America pays a meaningful dividend of 2.47%, 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 52.30%. 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 43.82% next year. This indicates that Packaging Corporation of America will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Environmental Score: -1.50

Percentage of Shares Shorted

2.14% 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 2.3, 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 decreased by 4.57%, indicating that investor sentiment is improving.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.7 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.79

News Sentiment

Packaging Corporation of America has a news sentiment score of 0.79. 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 is a higher news sentiment than the 0.68 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 13 news articles for Packaging Corporation of America this week, compared to 13 articles on an average week.

MarketBeat Follows

4 people have added Packaging Corporation of America to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 300% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 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

Only 1.50% 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.

PKG Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have PKG shares performed this year?

Packaging Corporation of America's stock was trading at $225.13 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, PKG shares have decreased by 11.3% and is now trading at $199.6790.

How were Packaging Corporation of America's earnings last quarter?

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April, 22nd. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.10. The industrial products company earned $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.12 billion. Packaging Corporation of America had a net margin of 10.09% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 20.08%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does Packaging Corporation of America have any subsidiaries?

Packaging Corporation of America subsidiaries include Sacramento Container Corp., Columbus Container, TimBar Packaging & Display, Crockett Packaging, Boise, Colorado Container, Field Packaging Group, and others.

Who are Packaging Corporation of America's major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Packaging Corporation of America include Assenagon Asset Management S.A. (0.29%), Summit Financial Strategies Inc. (0.27%), JLB & Associates Inc. (0.09%) and Fifth Third Bancorp (0.09%). Insiders that own company stock include Thomas A Hassfurther, Kent A Pflederer, Robert P Mundy, Charles J Carter, Robert Andrew Schneider, Donald R Shirley, Bruce A Ridley, Joseph Vaughn, Paul T Stecko and Karen E Gowland.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Packaging Corporation of America?

Shares of PKG stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Packaging Corporation of America own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Packaging Corporation of America investors own include American Water Works (AWK), Humana (HUM), Waste Connections (WCN), The RMR Group (RMR), Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH) and AU Optronics (AUOTY).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/22/2025
• Record date for 7/15 Dividend: 6/13/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 7/15 Dividend: 6/13/2025
• Dividend Payable: 7/15/2025
• Today: 7/18/2025
• Next Earnings (Confirmed): 7/23/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

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: 15,400
• Year Founded: 1959

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Packaging Corporation of America: $217.80
• High Price Target: $239.00
• Low Price Target: $200.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +9.0%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 6 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $9.56
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 20.93
• Forward P/E Ratio: 19.14
• P/E Growth: 2.68
• Net Income: $805.10 million
• Net Margins: 10.09%
• Pretax Margin: 13.39%
• Return on Equity: 20.08%
• Return on Assets: 9.77%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.55
• Current Ratio: 3.28
• Quick Ratio: 2.15

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $8.38 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.14
• Cash Flow: $14.75 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 13.55
• Book Value: $49.04 per share
• Price / Book: 4.07

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 89,980,000
• Free Float: 88,630,000
• Market Cap: $17.98 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.82