WestRock (WRK) Competitors

WestRock (NYSE:WRK) and Packaging Co. of America (NYSE:PKG) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, community ranking, risk, profitability, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is WRK or PKG a better dividend stock?

WestRock pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Packaging Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. WestRock pays out 101.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Packaging Co. of America pays out 62.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Co. of America is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has more volatility and risk, WRK or PKG?

WestRock has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its stock price is 5% more 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.

Do analysts recommend WRK or PKG?

WestRock presently has a consensus price target of $51.75, suggesting a potential upside of 0.47%. Packaging Co. of America has a consensus price target of $190.50, suggesting a potential downside of 4.27%. Given WestRock's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe WestRock is more favorable than Packaging Co. of America.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
WestRock	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
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 and insiders hold more shares of WRK or PKG?

83.4% of WestRock shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Packaging Co. of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of WestRock shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Packaging Co. of America shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is WRK or PKG more profitable?

Packaging Co. of America has a net margin of 9.06% compared to WestRock's net margin of 1.57%. Packaging Co. of America's return on equity of 18.39% beat WestRock's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
WestRock	1.57%	5.85%	2.16%
Packaging Co. of America	9.06%	18.39%	8.52%

Does the MarketBeat Community favor WRK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America received 20 more outperform votes than WestRock when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.35% of users gave WestRock an outperform vote while only 59.11% of users gave Packaging Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
WestRock	Outperform Votes 496 63.35%	Underperform Votes 287 36.65%
Packaging Co. of America	Outperform Votes 516 59.11%	Underperform Votes 357 40.89%

Does the media favor WRK or PKG?

In the previous week, Packaging Co. of America had 29 more articles in the media than WestRock. MarketBeat recorded 32 mentions for Packaging Co. of America and 3 mentions for WestRock. Packaging Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 0.84 beat WestRock's score of 0.00 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
WestRock	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Packaging Co. of America	11 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, WRK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America has lower revenue, but higher earnings than WestRock. Packaging Co. of America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than WestRock, 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
WestRock	$20.31B	0.65	-$1.65B	$1.19	43.29
Packaging Co. of America	$7.80B	2.29	$765.20M	$8.00	24.88

Summary

Packaging Co. of America beats WestRock on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.