Packaging Co. of America (PKG) Competitors

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

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, 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	$9.43B	0.91	$723M	$2.21	12.62
Packaging Co. of America	$7.80B	2.28	$765.20M	$8.00	24.81

Is GPK or PKG more profitable?

Packaging Co. of America has a net margin of 9.06% compared to Packaging Co. of America's net margin of 7.36%. Packaging Co. of America's return on equity of 32.55% beat Graphic Packaging's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.36%	32.55%	7.83%
Packaging Co. of America	9.06%	18.39%	8.52%

Does the media prefer GPK or PKG?

In the previous week, Packaging Co. of America had 28 more articles in the media than Graphic Packaging. MarketBeat recorded 34 mentions for Packaging Co. of America and 6 mentions for Graphic Packaging. Packaging Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Graphic Packaging's score of 0.84 indicating that Graphic Packaging is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Graphic Packaging	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Packaging Co. of America	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its stock price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Packaging Co. of America has a beta of 0.77, indicating that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GPK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America received 9 more outperform votes than Graphic Packaging when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.18% of users gave Graphic Packaging an outperform vote while only 59.11% of users gave Packaging Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Graphic Packaging	Outperform Votes 507 64.18%	Underperform Votes 283 35.82%
Packaging Co. of America	Outperform Votes 516 59.11%	Underperform Votes 357 40.89%

Is GPK or PKG a better dividend stock?

Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Packaging Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Graphic Packaging pays out 18.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Co. of America pays out 62.5% 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. Packaging Co. of America has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years. Packaging Co. of America is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts rate GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus price target of $29.03, suggesting a potential upside of 4.05%. Packaging Co. of America has a consensus price target of $190.50, suggesting a potential downside of 3.33%. Given Packaging Co. of America's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly 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	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Packaging Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of 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. 1.2% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Packaging Co. of America shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Packaging Co. of America beats Graphic Packaging on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.