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 investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, profitability, earnings, dividends and risk.

Which has more risk & volatility, GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% 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.

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GPK or PKG?

Packaging Co. of America received 12 more outperform votes than Graphic Packaging when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.17% of users gave Graphic Packaging an outperform vote while only 59.10% of users gave Packaging Co. of America an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Graphic Packaging	Outperform Votes 514 64.17%	Underperform Votes 287 35.83%
Packaging Co. of America	Outperform Votes 526 59.10%	Underperform Votes 364 40.90%

Which has higher 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	$8.96B	0.96	$723M	$2.34	12.28
Packaging Co. of America	$8.18B	2.56	$765.20M	$8.58	27.11

Does the media favor GPK or PKG?

In the previous week, Packaging Co. of America had 10 more articles in the media than Graphic Packaging. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Packaging Co. of America and 8 mentions for Graphic Packaging. Packaging Co. of America's average media sentiment score of 1.27 beat Graphic Packaging's score of 1.10 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
Graphic Packaging	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Packaging Co. of America	14 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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 2.1%. Graphic Packaging pays out 17.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Packaging Co. of America pays out 58.3% 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 increased 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 prefer GPK or PKG?

Graphic Packaging presently has a consensus target price of $31.53, indicating a potential upside of 9.72%. Packaging Co. of America has a consensus target price of $221.60, indicating a potential downside of 4.73%. Given Graphic Packaging's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly 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)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Packaging Co. of America	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Is GPK or PKG more profitable?

Packaging Co. of America has a net margin of 9.46% compared to Graphic Packaging's net margin of 7.99%. Graphic Packaging's return on equity of 28.26% beat Packaging Co. of America's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.99%	28.26%	7.27%
Packaging Co. of America	9.46%	19.10%	8.89%

Summary

Packaging Co. of America beats Graphic Packaging on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.