SLVM vs PKG vs MERC Stock Comparison

Sylvamo, Packaging Corp Of America and Mercer International Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SLVM Sylvamo Corp
$32.64 -9.2% 1M -23.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.28B
P/E
16.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.30B
Div. yield
–
Pulp and Paper Basic Materials
4 wins
PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$253.80 +7.0% 1M +23.9% 1Y
Market cap
$22.37B
P/E
30.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.82B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Packaging Corp Of America leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Packaging Corp Of America 6, Sylvamo 4, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSLVMPKGMERCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.28B $22.37B $8.33M PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.8x 30.8x 0.0x SLVM
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.8x 23.2x — PKG
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -7.1% +12.0% -4.8% PKG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.3% — -27.9% SLVM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% — -23.1% SLVM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x — -6.8x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 1.20% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -23.9% +23.9% -95.5% PKG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.5%/yr +13.4%/yr -59.2%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.4% 28.0% 97.6% PKG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 30/100 14/100 SLVM

Percentile Scorecard

SLVMPKGMERC

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

AxisSLVMPKGMERC
Valuation 86 #40 of 287 13 #14 of 16 19 #232 of 287
Growth 11 #239 of 267 53 #8 of 16 1 #265 of 267
Profitability 63 #88 of 239 – 27 #175 of 239
Financial Health 27 #213 of 292 – 8 #268 of 292
Shareholder Returns 96 #9 of 204 23 #11 of 14 14 #176 of 204
Overall 57 30 14
  • SLVM ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSLVMPKGMERCSPY
1 month -9.2%+7.0%-62.5% -0.8%
3 months -13.3%+0.5%-82.1% +3.5%
6 months -24.1%+19.4%-89.3% +7.0%
Year to date -32.2%+23.1%-93.9% +12.2%
1 year -23.9%+23.9%-95.5% +13.0%
3 years -24.9%+69.0%-98.5% +86.3%
3 years, per year -9.1%+19.1%-75.4% +23.1%
5 years +18.8%+87.4%-98.9% +68.6%
5 years, per year +3.5%+13.4%-59.2% +11.0%
10 years —+213.1%-98.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year —+12.1%-34.1% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSLVMPKGMERCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.4%28.0%97.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.4%25.8%115.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.711.84 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.620.85-0.98 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.4%-32.7%-99.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.4%-1.4%-95.7% -1.8%
52-week high $54.74$257.38$2.79 $779.14
52-week low $31.19$191.68$0.12 $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.

MultipleSLVMPKGMERC
P/E now vs peer median 17.1xmedian 17.8x 30.9xmedian 19.3x 0.0xmedian 17.8x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.8x 2.3xmedian 0.7x 0.0xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 9.9x —median 9.7x -6.8xmedian 9.9x
P/FCF now vs peer median -118.1xmedian 16.0x 28.1xmedian 15.7x -0.1xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.8x —median 1.4x -0.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -0.49median 0.79 -12.62median 0.82 0.00median 0.79

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 monthsSLVMPKGMERC
Revenue $3.30B $9.82B $1.86B
Gross profit $679.00M $2.02B $52.72M
Operating income $261.00M $1.10B -$437.94M
Net income $76.00M – -$517.45M
Free cash flow -$11.00M – -$154.18M
EPS (diluted) $1.91 $8.17 $-7.72
Cash & equivalents $227.00M – $78.78M
Total debt $3.55B – $1.95B
Shares (diluted) 39.80M 89.00M 67.04M
Enterprise value $1.16B $22.37B -$439.89M

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
MetricSLVMPKGMERC
P/E 17.1x 30.9x 0.0x
P/FCF -118.1x 28.1x -0.1x
P/Operating cash flow 6.2x – -0.1x
P/S 0.4x 2.3x 0.0x
P/B 1.4x – -0.1x
P/Tangible book 1.4x – -0.1x
EV/EBITDA 4.9x – -6.8x
EV/EBIT 8.2x – -4.3x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 2.3x 1.0x
EV/FCF -194.6x – -12.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.2x – -22.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.49 -12.62 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLVMPKGMERC
Revenue growth (1Y) -7.1% 12.0% -4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -4.2% 7.8% -5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -16.7% 5.5% -81.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -12.8% 5.1% -45.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -32.2% -11.6% -5,891%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -23.2% -0.2% -163.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -65.1% – -373.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -36.5% – -130.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -64.0% -18.0% -372.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% -2.4% -130.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -49.5% – -270.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.7% – -41.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -105.7% – -261.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.1% – -0.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLVMPKGMERC
Gross margin 20.6% – 2.8%
EBITDA margin 13.3% – -14.9%
Operating margin 7.9% – -23.6%
Pretax margin 4.3% – -29.7%
Net margin 2.3% – -27.9%
FCF margin -0.3% – -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 6.3% – -4.6%
Return on equity 7.9% – –
Return on assets 2.7% – -27.0%
Return on invested capital 7.4% – -23.1%
Return on capital employed 12.4% – -33.3%
Asset turnover 1.2x – 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.8x – 0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% – 0.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLVMPKGMERC
Debt / assets 33.5% – 104.3%
Debt / equity 1.0x – -19.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x – -6.8x
Debt / FCF -87.6x – -12.7x
Liabilities / assets 66.8% – 105.2%
Equity / assets 33.2% – -5.2%
Interest coverage – – -3.7x
Current ratio 1.5x – 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.20 – 0.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLVMPKGMERC
Dividend yield 5.5% 2.2% 0.0%
Net buyback yield 3.2% – –
Shareholder yield 8.7% 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.

ConsensusSLVMPKGMERC
Forward P/E 26.8xFY2026 23.2xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.22FY2026 $10.92FY2026 $-3.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -65.5%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after +323.0% +32.1% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.41BFY2026 $9.55BFY2026 $2.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 +6.2%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.8% +18.1% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLVMPKGMERC
Held by institutions 99.6% 97.9% 63.8%
Institutions holding 335 901 67
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% +1.6% -11.3%
Institutions buying 162 456 27
Institutions selling 88 291 19
Buyers to sellers 1.84 1.57 1.42

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.

SLVMPKGMERC
SLVM 1.00 0.50 0.09
PKG 0.50 1.00 0.10
MERC 0.09 0.10 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLVM, PKG and MERC?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sylvamo (SLVM) $1.28B, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $22.37B, Mercer International (MERC) $8.33M.

Which stock is cheaper, SLVM, PKG and MERC?

Sylvamo (SLVM) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sylvamo (SLVM) 16.8x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 30.8x, Mercer International (MERC) 0.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is cheapest (Sylvamo (SLVM) 26.8x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 23.2x). 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: Sylvamo (SLVM) -7.1%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.0%, Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sylvamo (SLVM) has the highest net margin (Sylvamo (SLVM) 2.3%, Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%). On return on invested capital, Sylvamo (SLVM) leads (Sylvamo (SLVM) 7.4%, Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) returned the most: Sylvamo (SLVM) -23.9%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +23.9%, Mercer International (MERC) -95.5%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Sylvamo (SLVM) +3.5%/yr, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +13.4%/yr, Mercer International (MERC) -59.2%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Sylvamo (SLVM) 0.00%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 0.00%, Mercer International (MERC) 1.20%. Sylvamo (SLVM) and Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has been the steadiest (Sylvamo (SLVM) 38.4%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.0%, Mercer International (MERC) 97.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.