Graphic Packaging (GPK) 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 businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, community ranking, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability and dividends.

Do analysts rate GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus target price of $31.70, suggesting a potential upside of 16.98%. Packaging Co. of America has a consensus target price of $233.00, suggesting a potential upside of 11.92%. Given Graphic Packaging's higher possible upside, equities research 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	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Packaging Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

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 1.5%. Packaging Co. of America pays an annual dividend of $5.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Graphic Packaging pays out 18.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Co. of America pays out 56.0% 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.

Does the media prefer GPK or PKG?

In the previous week, Packaging Co. of America had 13 more articles in the media than Graphic Packaging. MarketBeat recorded 21 mentions for Packaging Co. of America and 8 mentions for Graphic Packaging. Graphic Packaging's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Packaging Co. of America's score of 0.83 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	5 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	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings & 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	$8.81B	0.92	$658M	$2.16	12.55
Packaging Co. of America	$8.38B	2.23	$805.10M	$8.93	23.31

Is GPK or PKG more profitable?

Packaging Co. of America has a net margin of 9.60% compared to Graphic Packaging's net margin of 7.47%. Graphic Packaging's return on equity of 25.96% beat Packaging Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.47%	25.96%	6.81%
Packaging Co. of America	9.60%	19.67%	9.19%

Which has more volatility & risk, GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.84, suggesting that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Packaging Co. of America has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GPK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America received 18 more outperform votes than Graphic Packaging when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 63.98% of users gave Graphic Packaging an outperform vote while only 59.29% of users gave Packaging Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Graphic Packaging	Outperform Votes 515 63.98%	Underperform Votes 290 36.02%
Packaging Co. of America	Outperform Votes 533 59.29%	Underperform Votes 366 40.71%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of GPK or PKG?

99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Packaging Co. of America shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Packaging Co. of America shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Packaging Co. of America beats Graphic Packaging on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.