MERC vs WFG vs PKG Stock Comparison

Mercer International, West Fraser Timber and Packaging Corp Of America Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$248.49 +6.0% 1M +20.5% 1Y
Market cap
$22.14B
P/E
30.2x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.82B
Div. yield
2.21%
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionMERCWFGPKGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.04M $5.41B $22.14B PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x -3.9x 30.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — 22.8x –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% -10.2% +12.0% PKG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% -26.2% — WFG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% — — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x -181.5x — WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 1.87% 2.21% PKG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -95.1% +5.0% +20.5% PKG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -59.3%/yr -3.1%/yr +12.6%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 97.9% 33.6% 28.1% PKG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 33/100 32/100 WFG

Percentile Scorecard

MERCWFGPKG

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

AxisMERCWFGPKG
Valuation 20 #231 of 287 45 #159 of 287 13 #14 of 16
Growth 1 #264 of 266 6 #250 of 266 60 #7 of 16
Profitability 28 #170 of 234 21 #185 of 234 –
Financial Health 8 #266 of 289 – –
Shareholder Returns 14 #174 of 203 61 #80 of 203 23 #11 of 14
Overall 14 33 32
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCWFGPKGSPY
1 month -62.5%-4.3%+6.0% +0.9%
3 months -80.0%+2.9%-0.4% +5.9%
6 months -88.8%+8.5%+15.0% +8.5%
Year to date -93.9%+12.0%+20.5% +13.3%
1 year -95.1%+5.0%+20.5% +12.4%
3 years -98.5%+4.3%+65.5% +88.1%
3 years, per year -75.4%+1.4%+18.3% +23.5%
5 years -98.9%-14.5%+80.9% +68.2%
5 years, per year -59.3%-3.1%+12.6% +11.0%
10 years -98.5%+98.7%+204.9% +263.4%
10 years, per year -34.2%+7.1%+11.8% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureMERCWFGPKGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 97.9%33.6%28.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 115.2%32.4%25.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.860.630.70 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.970.150.73 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.3%-43.2%-32.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.7%-10.7%-3.5% -0.9%
52-week high $2.79$76.69$257.38 $779.14
52-week low $0.12$57.91$191.68 $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.

MultipleMERCWFGPKG
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 17.5x -3.9xmedian 17.5x 30.2xmedian 19.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 2.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x -2,885xmedian 9.8x —median 9.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 15.8x -12.4xmedian 15.8x 28.1xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x —median 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.78 0.60median 0.78 -12.36median 0.78

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 monthsMERCWFGPKG
Revenue $1.86B $5.24B $9.82B
Gross profit $52.72M $1.14B $2.02B
Operating income -$437.94M -$1.49B $1.10B
Net income -$517.45M -$1.20B –
Free cash flow -$154.18M -$435.00M –
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $-17.33 $8.17
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $74.00M –
Total debt $1.95B $437.00M –
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 79.16M 89.00M
Enterprise value -$440.18M $4.50B $22.14B

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
MetricMERCWFGPKG
P/E 0.0x -3.9x 30.2x
P/FCF -0.1x -12.4x 28.1x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x – –
P/S 0.0x 1.0x 2.3x
P/B -0.1x 1.0x –
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.0x –
EV/EBITDA -6.8x -2,885x –
EV/EBIT -4.3x -3.9x –
EV/Revenue 1.0x 1.1x 2.3x
EV/FCF -12.2x -13.3x –
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x – –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 0.60 -12.36

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCWFGPKG
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% -10.2% 12.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -13.9% 7.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -29.4% 5.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% -27.6% 5.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -867.5% -11.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -52.1% -0.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% -1,620% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% -188.8% –
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% -331.3% -18.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% -6.5% -2.4%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% – –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% – –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% 17.8% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 1.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCWFGPKG
Gross margin 2.8% 21.8% –
EBITDA margin -14.9% 0.0% –
Operating margin -23.6% -28.4% –
Pretax margin -29.7% -29.3% –
Net margin -27.9% -26.2% –
FCF margin -8.3% -8.3% –
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% – –
Return on equity – -24.5% –
Return on assets -27.0% – –
Return on invested capital -23.1% – –
Return on capital employed -33.3% – –
Asset turnover 1.0x – –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x – –
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCWFGPKG
Debt / assets 104.3% – –
Debt / equity -19.9x 0.1x –
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x -181.5x –
Debt / FCF -12.7x -1.0x –
Liabilities / assets 105.2% – –
Equity / assets -5.2% – –
Interest coverage -3.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x – –
Quick ratio 0.6x – –
Cash ratio 0.1x – –
Altman Z-score 0.04 – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCWFGPKG
Dividend yield 0.0% 1.9% 2.2%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.9% 2.2%
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.

ConsensusMERCWFGPKG
Forward P/E – – 22.8xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.79FY2026 $-4.07FY2026 $10.92FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – – +11.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – – +32.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.02BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026 $9.55BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +7.9%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026 +6.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +10.5% +9.6% +18.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCWFGPKG
Held by institutions 63.8% 49.7% 97.9%
Institutions holding 67 166 902
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% +3.1% +1.6%
Institutions buying 27 79 457
Institutions selling 19 55 291
Buyers to sellers 1.42 1.44 1.57

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.

MERCWFGPKG
MERC 1.00 0.19 0.09
WFG 0.19 1.00 0.42
PKG 0.09 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, WFG and PKG?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.04M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.41B, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $22.14B.

Which company is growing faster?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -95.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +5.0%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +20.5%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -59.3%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.1%/yr, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has the highest dividend yield: Mercer International (MERC) 0.00%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 1.87%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 2.21%. Mercer International (MERC) 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%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.