Stocks · Consumer Cyclical · Packaging & Containers
Packaging Corporation of America PKG
$228.54 -0.51% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $20.36B
Expensive vs sectorLow risk
Next earnings report: Oct 21, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- The shares trade at 29.7× trailing earnings, higher than 95% of the company's own readings over the past five years.
- The stock is in an uptrend: above its 200-day average for 94 trading days, with the 50-day average above the 200-day.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $7.70, down 23.2% year over year.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Consumer Cyclical sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth67Positive
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 25%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 33%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 48%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRBottom 49%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 18%
Quality78Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 35%
- Gross marginBottom 20%
- Operating marginTop 26%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Top 34%
- Accruals (lower is better)Top 27%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 42%
- Interest coverTop 29%
Value20Very weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldBottom 42%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 35%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 47%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 22%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Bottom 7%
Momentum71Positive
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthTop 37%
- 6-month returnTop 33%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Top 35%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 15%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 34%
Revisions17Very weak
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 32%
- Consecutive EPS beatsBottom 48%
- Share of analysts rating BuyBottom 24%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 32%
Stability94Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 14%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 7%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 16%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Top 42%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 7.9% | 10.3% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -13.9% | -23.2% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 22.1% | 20.1% | ↓ |
| Operating margin | 14.4% | 12.7% | ↓ |
| FCF margin | 7.2% | 7.8% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 10.3% | 7.9% | ↑ | Top 25% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -23.2% | -13.9% | ↓ | Bottom 33% |
| Gross margin | 20.1% | 22.1% | ↓ | Bottom 20% |
| Operating margin | 12.7% | 14.4% | ↓ | Top 26% |
| Net margin | 7.2% | 10.5% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 7.8% | 7.2% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 9.2% | — | Top 35% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 2.0% | — | Bottom 49% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 2.35×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -8.5%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.4%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- +8.5 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.14×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 10.2×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 2.20%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 1.05%
- Shareholder yield
- 3.25%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.8%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.2%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 2
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 5 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +1.7%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- -0.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $272.86
- Target vs current price
- +19.4%
- Analysts with a rating
- 26
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 35%
- Consensus rating
- Hold
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2026 | +1.7% | -0.0% | +11.0% | +9.7% | — |
| Apr 22, 2026 | +12.1% | -2.5% | +5.7% | -3.5% | +10.7% |
| Jan 27, 2026 | -3.7% | +0.8% | +0.9% | +3.2% | -7.5% |
| Oct 22, 2025 | -3.2% | +0.3% | -0.9% | -5.5% | +6.3% |
| Jul 23, 2025 | +1.6% | +0.5% | -1.1% | -3.4% | +2.1% |
| Apr 22, 2025 | +4.5% | +2.4% | +2.4% | +6.8% | +11.1% |
| Jan 28, 2025 | -2.4% | -0.5% | -11.9% | -11.3% | -23.0% |
| Oct 22, 2024 | +6.0% | -1.1% | +3.8% | +8.7% | +8.6% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 22, 2026 | $2.35 | $2.31 | +1.7% | $2.49B |
| Apr 22, 2026 | $2.40 | $2.14 | +12.1% | $2.37B |
| Jan 27, 2026 | $2.32 | $2.41 | -3.7% | $2.36B |
| Oct 22, 2025 | $2.73 | $2.82 | -3.2% | $2.31B |
| Jul 23, 2025 | $2.48 | $2.44 | +1.6% | $2.17B |
| Apr 22, 2025 | $2.31 | $2.21 | +4.5% | $2.14B |
| Jan 28, 2025 | $2.47 | $2.53 | -2.4% | $2.15B |
| Oct 22, 2024 | $2.65 | $2.50 | +6.0% | $2.18B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 29.7× | 20.0× | 95th | Bottom 42% |
| P/E (forward) | 21.8× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 13.1× | — | — | Bottom 47% |
| EV / Sales | 2.55× | — | — | Bottom 22% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 3.65% | — | — | Bottom 35% |
| Earnings yield | 3.37% | — | — | Bottom 42% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 11.0× – 33.3× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +6.4%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -23.2%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +71.0%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✓ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 94
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.2%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +1.6%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -5.9%
- Distance from 200-day average
- +0.9%
- RSI (14)
- 38.7
- Relative volume
- 0.86×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 27.4%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 66th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.61
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.36
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -11.2%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -29.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 2022 | Sep 30, 2022 | -32.8% | 113 days | 293 days (Nov 30, 2023) |
| Nov 29, 2024 | Apr 8, 2025 | -29.3% | 87 days | 324 days (Jul 24, 2026) |
| May 17, 2021 | Dec 10, 2021 | -17.4% | 145 days | 65 days (Mar 16, 2022) |
| Jan 12, 2021 | Mar 23, 2021 | -12.4% | 48 days | 26 days (Apr 29, 2021) |
| Aug 11, 2026 | Sep 9, 2026 | -11.7% | 20 days | Not yet recovered |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $20.36B
- P/E (TTM)
- 29.7
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $7.70
- Revenue (TTM)
- $9.53B
- Dividend yield
- 2.41%
- 52-week range
- $191.50 – $259.98
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7.73B | $8.48B | $7.80B | $8.38B | $8.99B |
| Gross profit | $1.87B | $2.09B | $1.70B | $1.78B | $1.89B |
| Operating income | $1.28B | $1.42B | $1.08B | $1.10B | $1.26B |
| Net income | $841.1M | $1.03B | $765.2M | $805.1M | $768.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $8.83 | $11.02 | $8.48 | $8.93 | $8.58 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.18B | $2.15B | $2.14B | $2.17B | $2.31B | $2.36B | $2.37B | $2.49B |
| Net income | $238.1M | $221.1M | $203.8M | $241.5M | $226.9M | $101.1M | $170.9M | $192.1M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.64 | $2.45 | $2.26 | $2.67 | $2.51 | $1.13 | $1.91 | $2.15 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $1.09B | $1.50B | $1.32B | $1.19B | $1.56B |
| Capital expenditure | -$605.1M | -$824.2M | -$469.7M | -$669.7M | -$828.9M |
| Free cash flow | $489.0M | $670.8M | $845.4M | $521.5M | $728.6M |
| Dividends paid | -$379.8M | -$420.3M | -$448.9M | -$448.8M | -$449.6M |
| Net share buybacks | -$205.9M | -$538.0M | -$57.2M | -$25.7M | -$153.0M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $593.8M
- Total assets
- $11.02B
- Total liabilities
- $6.35B
- Total debt
- $4.40B
- Net debt
- $3.96B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $4.66B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 7, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $1.50 | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Jun 15, 2026 | $1.50 | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Mar 13, 2026 | $1.25 | Apr 15, 2026 |
| Dec 15, 2025 | $1.25 | Jan 14, 2026 |
| Sep 15, 2025 | $1.25 | Oct 15, 2025 |
| Jun 13, 2025 | $1.25 | Jul 15, 2025 |
| Mar 14, 2025 | $1.25 | Apr 15, 2025 |
| Dec 20, 2024 | $1.25 | Jan 15, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 3,347,336
- Days to cover
- 5.23
- Change vs previous report
- +25.3%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.