MERC vs PKG vs CLW Stock Comparison

Mercer International, Packaging Corp Of America and Clearwater Paper Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$253.10 +6.7% 1M +22.5% 1Y
Market cap
$21.97B
P/E
30.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.82B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
6 wins
CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$13.64 -33.1% 1M -29.7% 1Y
Market cap
$218.78M
P/E
91.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.51B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Packaging Corp Of America leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Packaging Corp Of America 6, Clearwater Paper 3, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCPKGCLWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.52M $21.97B $218.78M PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x 30.2x 91.2x PKG
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 23.2x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% +12.0% -3.2% PKG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% — 0.2% CLW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% — -1.3% CLW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x — 7.6x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.18% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -95.0% +22.5% -29.7% PKG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -58.8%/yr +12.8%/yr -20.3%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 97.9% 28.0% 62.8% PKG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 31/100 53/100 CLW

Percentile Scorecard

MERCPKGCLW

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisMERCPKGCLW
Valuation 20 #231 of 287 13 #14 of 16 100 #1 of 16
Growth 1 #264 of 266 53 #8 of 16 40 #10 of 16
Profitability 27 #172 of 236 – 36 #10 of 15
Financial Health 8 #264 of 288 – 54 #7 of 14
Shareholder Returns 13 #176 of 203 25 #10 of 13 33 #9 of 13
Overall 14 31 53
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodMERCPKGCLWSPY
1 month -59.4%+6.7%-33.1% -0.2%
3 months -80.9%0.0%-22.1% +3.9%
6 months -88.0%+13.7%-8.1% +8.2%
Year to date -93.4%+22.7%-21.6% +12.9%
1 year -95.0%+22.5%-29.7% +12.3%
3 years -98.4%+68.5%-60.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year -74.8%+19.0%-26.6% +23.3%
5 years -98.8%+82.3%-67.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year -58.8%+12.8%-20.3% +10.9%
10 years -98.4%+212.6%-74.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year -33.7%+12.1%-12.8% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureMERCPKGCLWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 97.9%28.0%62.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 115.0%25.7%69.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.870.710.81 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.970.80-0.47 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-32.7%-77.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.3%-1.7%-41.5% -1.2%
52-week high $2.79$257.38$23.30 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$191.68$12.44 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleMERCPKGCLW
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 18.1x 30.8xmedian 19.3x 91.7xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 2.3xmedian 0.7x 0.1xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x —median 9.4x 10.8xmedian 9.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.5x 28.1xmedian 15.6x 3.9xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x —median 1.4x 0.3xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.76 -12.59median 0.82 -1.33median 0.82

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsMERCPKGCLW
Revenue $1.86B $9.82B $1.51B
Gross profit $52.72M $2.02B $27.10M
Operating income -$437.94M $1.10B -$24.30M
Net income -$517.45M – $2.40M
Free cash flow -$154.18M – $56.80M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $8.17 $0.15
Cash & equivalents $78.78M – $35.70M
Total debt $1.95B – $567.40M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 89.00M 16.13M
Enterprise value -$439.70M $21.97B $20.48M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricMERCPKGCLW
P/E 0.0x 30.8x 91.7x
P/FCF -0.1x 28.1x 3.9x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x – 2.1x
P/S 0.0x 2.3x 0.1x
P/B -0.1x – 0.3x
P/Tangible book -0.1x – 0.3x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x – 10.8x
EV/EBIT -4.3x – -30.9x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 2.3x 0.5x
EV/FCF -12.2x – 13.2x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x – 7.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 -12.59 -1.33

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCPKGCLW
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% 12.0% -3.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% 7.8% 43.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% 5.5% -76.0%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% 5.1% 28.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -11.6% 62.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -0.2% -31.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% – -98.3%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% – -69.5%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% -18.0% -98.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% -2.4% -69.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% – 478.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% – -9.6%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% – 142.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% – -10.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCPKGCLW
Gross margin 2.8% – 1.8%
EBITDA margin -14.9% – 4.6%
Operating margin -23.6% – -1.6%
Pretax margin -29.7% – -3.2%
Net margin -27.9% – 0.2%
FCF margin -8.3% – 3.8%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% – 7.0%
Return on equity – – 0.3%
Return on assets -27.0% – 0.1%
Return on invested capital -23.1% – -1.3%
Return on capital employed -33.3% – -2.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x – 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x – 43.8x
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCPKGCLW
Debt / assets 104.3% – 31.9%
Debt / equity -19.9x – 0.7x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x – 7.6x
Debt / FCF -12.7x – 10.0x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% – 55.3%
Equity / assets -5.2% – 44.7%
Interest coverage -3.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x – 1.5x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 0.4x
Cash ratio 0.1x – 0.1x
Altman Z-score 0.04 – 1.75

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCPKGCLW
Dividend yield 0.0% 2.2% –
Net buyback yield – – 0.0%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 2.2% 0.0%
Payout ratio (earnings) -1.9% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) -6.5% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) -60.0% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -26.1% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusMERCPKGCLW
Forward P/E – 23.2xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 $10.92FY2026 $-3.74FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +11.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +32.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 $9.55BFY2026 $1.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 +6.2%FY2026 -0.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +18.1% +6.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCPKGCLW
Held by institutions 63.8% 97.9% 88.7%
Institutions holding 67 901 134
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% +1.6% +9.9%
Institutions buying 27 456 85
Institutions selling 19 291 33
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.57 2.58

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

MERCPKGCLW
MERC 1.00 0.09 0.09
PKG 0.09 1.00 0.32
CLW 0.09 0.32 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, PKG and CLW?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.52M, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $21.97B, Clearwater Paper (CLW) $218.78M.

Which stock is cheaper, MERC, PKG and CLW?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Mercer International (MERC) 0.0x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 30.2x, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 91.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.0%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Clearwater Paper (CLW) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.2%). On return on invested capital, Clearwater Paper (CLW) leads (Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -95.0%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +22.5%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -29.7%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -58.8%/yr, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.8%/yr, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -20.3%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mercer International (MERC) 1.18%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 0.00%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.00%. Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) and Clearwater Paper (CLW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has been the steadiest (Mercer International (MERC) 97.9%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.0%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 62.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MERC, PKG and CLW?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.