How to buy Packaging Corporation of America stock | 134.36

Packaging Corporation of America is a packaging & containers business based in the US. Packaging Corporation of America shares (PKG) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Packaging Corporation of America employs 15,500 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around USD$6.7 billion.

How to buy shares in Packaging Corporation of America

1. Compare share trading platforms. If you're a beginner, look for a platform with low commissions, expert ratings and investment tools to track your portfolio. Narrow down top brands with our comparison table.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and bank information. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Packaging Corporation of America. Find the stock by name or ticker symbol: PKG. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Packaging Corporation of America reaches your desired price. To spread out your purchase, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of USD$134.36, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimize risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Packaging Corporation of America, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Packaging Corporation of America. Optimize your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

How has coronavirus impacted Packaging Corporation of America's share price?

Since the stock market crash in March caused by coronavirus, Packaging Corporation of America's share price has had significant positive movement.

Its last market close was USD$134.36, which is 23.82% up on its pre-crash value of USD$102.36 and 89.11% up on the lowest point reached during the March crash when the shares fell as low as USD$71.05.

If you had bought USD$1,000 worth of Packaging Corporation of America shares at the start of February 2020, those shares would have been worth USD$784.30 at the bottom of the March crash, and if you held on to them, then as of the last market close they'd be worth USD$1,382.56.

Packaging Corporation of America share price

Use our graph to track the performance of PKG stocks over time.

Packaging Corporation of America shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2020-10-18.

Latest market close	USD$134.36
52-week range	USD$72.75 - USD$120.17
50-day moving average	USD$109.3185
200-day moving average	USD$99.9805
Wall St. target price	USD$106.36
PE ratio	21.9815
Dividend yield	USD$3.16 (2.64%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	USD$5.399

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Is it a good time to buy Packaging Corporation of America stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Packaging Corporation of America by TradingView

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

Packaging Corporation of America price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of $134.36 from 2020-11-16

1 week (2020-11-16)	134.36
1 month (2020-10-26)	16.05%
3 months (2020-08-24)	34.74%
6 months (2020-05-22)	44.49%

1 year (2019-11-22)	21.19%
2 years (2018-11-23)	40.54%
3 years (2017-11-24)	20.53%
5 years (2015-11-24)	96.49%

Is Packaging Corporation of America under- or over-valued?

Valuing Packaging Corporation of America stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Packaging Corporation of America's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Packaging Corporation of America's P/E ratio

Packaging Corporation of America's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 22x. In other words, Packaging Corporation of America shares trade at around 22x recent earnings.

That's relatively low compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The low P/E ratio could mean that investors are pessimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're under-valued.

Packaging Corporation of America's PEG ratio

Packaging Corporation of America's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 1.83. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Packaging Corporation of America's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Packaging Corporation of America's EBITDA

Packaging Corporation of America's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is USD$1.3 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Packaging Corporation of America's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Packaging Corporation of America financials

Revenue TTM	USD$6.7 billion
Operating margin TTM	13.79%
Gross profit TTM	USD$1.6 billion
Return on assets TTM	8.08%
Return on equity TTM	16.99%
Profit margin	7.65%
Book value	$33.275
Market capitalisation	USD$11.3 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Packaging Corporation of America shares

There are currently 1.9 million Packaging Corporation of America shares held short by investors – that's known as Packaging Corporation of America's "short interest". This figure is 17.2% down from 2.3 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Packaging Corporation of America shares can be evaluated.

Packaging Corporation of America's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Packaging Corporation of America's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Packaging Corporation of America shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Packaging Corporation of America shares traded daily (recently around 781054.09836066). Packaging Corporation of America's SIR currently stands at 2.44. In other words for every 100,000 Packaging Corporation of America shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2440 shares are currently held short.

However Packaging Corporation of America's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Packaging Corporation of America shares, or, against the total number of tradable Packaging Corporation of America shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Packaging Corporation of America's short interest could be expressed as 0.02% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Packaging Corporation of America shares in existence, roughly 20 shares are currently held short) or 0.0262% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Packaging Corporation of America shares, roughly 26 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Packaging Corporation of America.

Find out more about how you can short Packaging Corporation of America stock.

Packaging Corporation of America's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Packaging Corporation of America.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Packaging Corporation of America's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 16.2

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Packaging Corporation of America's overall score of 16.2 (as at 10/01/2020) is excellent – landing it in it in the 19th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Packaging Corporation of America is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Packaging Corporation of America's environmental score

Environmental score: 8.89/100

Packaging Corporation of America's social score

Social score: 1.43/100

Packaging Corporation of America's governance score

Governance score: 2.24/100

Packaging Corporation of America's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Packaging Corporation of America scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Packaging Corporation of America has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Packaging Corporation of America was last rated for ESG on: 2020-10-01.

Total ESG score	16.2
Total ESG percentile	18.92
Environmental score	8.89
Social score	1.43
Governance score	2.24
Level of controversy	2

Packaging Corporation of America share dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 48.54% of net profits

Recently Packaging Corporation of America has paid out, on average, around 48.54% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 2.64% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Packaging Corporation of America shareholders could enjoy a 2.64% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Packaging Corporation of America's case, that would currently equate to about $3.16 per share.

While Packaging Corporation of America's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Packaging Corporation of America may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Packaging Corporation of America's most recent dividend payout was on 15 October 2020. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their shares by 14 September 2020 (the "ex-dividend date").

Packaging Corporation of America share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Packaging Corporation of America's shares have ranged in value from as little as $72.75 up to $120.17. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Packaging Corporation of America's is 1.1346. This would suggest that Packaging Corporation of America's shares are a little bit more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent, relatively-speaking, a slightly higher risk (but potentially also market-beating returns).

Packaging Corporation of America overview

Packaging Corporation of America manufactures and sells containerboard and corrugated packaging products in the United States. The company operates through Packaging and Paper segments. The Packaging segment offers various containerboard and corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods; multi-color boxes and displays that help to merchandise the packaged product in retail locations; and honeycomb protective packaging products, as well as packaging for meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, processed food, beverages, and other industrial and consumer products. This segment sells its corrugated products through a direct sales and marketing organization, independent brokers, and distribution partners. The Paper segment manufactures and sells commodity and specialty papers, as well as communication-based papers, such as cut-size office papers, and printing and converting papers. This segment sells white papers through its sales and marketing organization. Packaging Corporation of America was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Packaging Corporation of America is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 1.522% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are held by insiders and 94.954% by institutions.

• How many people work for Packaging Corporation of America?

  Latest data suggests 15,500 work at Packaging Corporation of America.

• When does the fiscal year end for Packaging Corporation of America?

  Packaging Corporation of America's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Packaging Corporation of America based?

  Packaging Corporation of America's address is: 1 North Field Court, Lake Forest, IL, United States, 60045

• What is Packaging Corporation of America's ISIN number?

  Packaging Corporation of America's international securities identification number is: US6951561090

• What is Packaging Corporation of America's CUSIP number?

  Packaging Corporation of America's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 695156109