PKG vs SLVM vs SW Stock Comparison

Packaging Corp Of America, Sylvamo and Smurfit Westrock Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$253.80 +7.0% 1M +23.9% 1Y
Market cap
$22.43B
P/E
30.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.82B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
5 wins
SLVM Sylvamo Corp
$32.64 -9.2% 1M -23.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.29B
P/E
16.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.30B
Div. yield
–
Pulp and Paper Basic Materials
4 wins
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$42.22 -9.0% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$22.36B
P/E
45.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
2 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Packaging Corp Of America leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Packaging Corp Of America 5, Sylvamo 4, Smurfit Westrock 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionPKGSLVMSWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $22.43B $1.29B $22.36B PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 30.8x 16.9x 45.0x SLVM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 23.2x 26.8x 18.6x SW
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +12.0% -7.1% +1.7% PKG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 2.3% 1.6% SLVM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 7.4% 3.1% SLVM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.9x 3.2x SLVM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +23.9% -23.9% -2.0% PKG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +13.4%/yr +3.5%/yr -4.0%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 28.0% 38.4% 44.2% PKG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 30/100 57/100 63/100 SW

Percentile Scorecard

PKGSLVMSW

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

AxisPKGSLVMSW
Valuation 13 #14 of 16 86 #40 of 287 73 #5 of 16
Growth 53 #8 of 16 11 #239 of 267 73 #5 of 16
Profitability – 63 #88 of 239 50 #8 of 15
Financial Health – 27 #213 of 292 79 #4 of 15
Shareholder Returns 23 #11 of 14 96 #9 of 204 39 #9 of 14
Overall 30 57 63
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SLVM ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodPKGSLVMSWSPY
1 month +7.0%-9.2%-9.0% -0.8%
3 months +0.5%-13.3%-15.7% +3.5%
6 months +19.4%-24.1%+5.4% +7.0%
Year to date +23.1%-32.2%+9.2% +12.2%
1 year +23.9%-23.9%-2.0% +13.0%
3 years +69.0%-24.9%+35.8% +86.3%
3 years, per year +19.1%-9.1%+10.8% +23.1%
5 years +87.4%+18.8%-18.4% +68.6%
5 years, per year +13.4%+3.5%-4.0% +11.0%
10 years +213.1%—+92.7% +258.0%
10 years, per year +12.1%—+6.8% +13.6%

Risk

MeasurePKGSLVMSWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 28.0%38.4%44.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 25.8%35.4%40.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.710.621.46 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.85-0.62-0.04 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -32.7%-67.4%-55.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -1.4%-40.4%-18.6% -1.8%
52-week high $257.38$54.74$51.84 $779.14
52-week low $191.68$31.19$32.79 $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.

MultiplePKGSLVMSW
P/E now vs peer median 30.9xmedian 19.3x 17.1xmedian 17.8x 44.5xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 0.7x 0.4xmedian 1.8x 0.7xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.7x 4.9xmedian 9.9x 8.4xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 28.1xmedian 15.7x -118.1xmedian 16.0x 21.8xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median —median 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.8x 1.2xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median -12.62median 0.82 -0.49median 0.79 —median 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 monthsPKGSLVMSW
Revenue $9.82B $3.30B $31.33B
Gross profit $2.02B $679.00M $5.62B
Operating income $1.10B $261.00M $1.48B
Net income – $76.00M $497.00M
Free cash flow – -$11.00M $1.02B
EPS (diluted) $8.17 $1.91 $0.94
Cash & equivalents – $227.00M $677.00M
Total debt – $3.55B $14.16B
Shares (diluted) 89.00M 39.80M 526.00M
Enterprise value $22.43B $1.16B $19.27B

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
MetricPKGSLVMSW
P/E 30.9x 17.1x 44.5x
P/FCF 28.1x -118.1x 21.8x
P/Operating cash flow – 6.2x 6.7x
P/S 2.3x 0.4x 0.7x
P/B – 1.4x 1.2x
P/Tangible book – 1.4x 1.3x
EV/EBITDA – 4.9x 8.4x
EV/EBIT – 8.2x 24.1x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 0.6x 1.1x
EV/FCF – -194.6x 35.1x
EV/Operating cash flow – 10.2x 10.8x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -12.62 -0.49 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricPKGSLVMSW
Revenue growth (1Y) 12.0% -7.1% 1.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 7.8% -4.2% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.5% -16.7% -4.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 5.1% -12.8% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -11.6% -32.2% 17.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -0.2% -23.2% –
Net income growth (1Y) – -65.1% 41.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -36.5% –
EPS growth (1Y) -18.0% -64.0% 40.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -2.4% -35.0% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – -49.5% 52.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -19.7% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – -105.7% 1,094%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -27.1% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricPKGSLVMSW
Gross margin – 20.6% 17.9%
EBITDA margin – 13.3% 13.5%
Operating margin – 7.9% 4.7%
Pretax margin – 4.3% 2.3%
Net margin – 2.3% 1.6%
FCF margin – -0.3% 3.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 6.3% 10.5%
Return on equity – 7.9% 2.7%
Return on assets – 2.7% 1.1%
Return on invested capital – 7.4% 3.1%
Return on capital employed – 12.4% 3.9%
Asset turnover – 1.2x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.8x 6.6x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricPKGSLVMSW
Debt / assets – 33.5% 31.3%
Debt / equity – 1.0x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.9x 3.2x
Debt / FCF – -87.6x 14.0x
Liabilities / assets – 66.8% 60.0%
Equity / assets – 33.2% 40.0%
Interest coverage – – –
Current ratio – 1.5x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.2x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 3.20 1.45

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricPKGSLVMSW
Dividend yield 2.2% 5.5% 4.2%
Net buyback yield – 3.2% -0.1%
Shareholder yield 2.2% 8.7% 4.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusPKGSLVMSW
Forward P/E 23.2xFY2026 26.8xFY2026 18.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $10.92FY2026 $1.22FY2026 $2.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +11.0%FY2026 -65.5%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +32.1% +323.0% +67.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $9.55BFY2026 $3.41BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +6.2%FY2026 +1.8%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +18.1% +0.8% +9.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersPKGSLVMSW
Held by institutions 97.9% 99.6% 95.9%
Institutions holding 901 335 640
Change in shares held, QoQ +1.6% -0.4% +5.7%
Institutions buying 456 162 373
Institutions selling 291 88 191
Buyers to sellers 1.57 1.84 1.95

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.

PKGSLVMSW
PKG 1.00 0.50 0.77
SLVM 0.50 1.00 0.51
SW 0.77 0.51 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, PKG, SLVM and SW?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $22.43B, Sylvamo (SLVM) $1.29B, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.36B.

Which stock is cheaper, PKG, SLVM and SW?

Sylvamo (SLVM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 30.8x, Sylvamo (SLVM) 16.9x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 45.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Smurfit Westrock (SW) is cheapest (Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 23.2x, Sylvamo (SLVM) 26.8x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 18.6x). 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: Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.0%, Sylvamo (SLVM) -7.1%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sylvamo (SLVM) has the highest net margin (Sylvamo (SLVM) 2.3%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%). On return on invested capital, Sylvamo (SLVM) leads (Sylvamo (SLVM) 7.4%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) returned the most: Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +23.9%, Sylvamo (SLVM) -23.9%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.0%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +13.4%/yr, Sylvamo (SLVM) +3.5%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -4.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has been the steadiest (Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.0%, Sylvamo (SLVM) 38.4%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, PKG, SLVM and SW?

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 5. 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.