SON vs PKG vs GPK Stock Comparison

Sonoco Products, Packaging Corp Of America and Graphic Packaging Holding Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SON Sonoco Products Co
$49.29 -1.5% 1M +22.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.91B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$7.37B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
1 win
PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$253.80 +7.0% 1M +23.9% 1Y
Market cap
$22.42B
P/E
30.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.82B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Packaging Corp Of America leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Packaging Corp Of America 5, Graphic Packaging Holding 2, Sonoco Products 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSONPKGGPKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.91B $22.42B $2.57B PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -21.6x 30.8x 13.3x GPK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 9.7x 23.2x 13.5x SON
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.6% +12.0% +0.0% PKG
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — — 2.2% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — — 4.3% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — 5.1x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.1% +23.9% -49.2% PKG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.2%/yr +13.4%/yr -15.1%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.7% 28.0% 47.4% PKG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 30/100 54/100 GPK

Percentile Scorecard

SONPKGGPK

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

AxisSONPKGGPK
Valuation 67 #6 of 16 13 #14 of 16 93 #2 of 16
Growth 20 #13 of 16 53 #8 of 16 0 #16 of 16
Profitability 43 #9 of 15 – 71 #5 of 15
Financial Health 29 #11 of 15 – 21 #12 of 15
Shareholder Returns 62 #6 of 14 23 #11 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Overall 44 30 54
  • SON ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • GPK ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSONPKGGPKSPY
1 month -1.5%+7.0%-6.5% -0.8%
3 months -16.0%+0.5%-21.3% +3.5%
6 months -1.9%+19.4%-8.6% +7.0%
Year to date +12.9%+23.1%-41.8% +12.2%
1 year +22.1%+23.9%-49.2% +13.0%
3 years -2.6%+69.0%-58.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year -0.9%+19.1%-25.2% +23.1%
5 years -15.2%+87.4%-55.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.2%+13.4%-15.1% +11.0%
10 years -1.4%+213.1%-29.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year -0.1%+12.1%-3.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSONPKGGPKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.7%28.0%47.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.4%25.8%48.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.410.710.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.660.85-1.04 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.2%-32.7%-73.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.6%-1.4%-49.5% -1.8%
52-week high $60.55$257.38$17.37 $779.14
52-week low $39.27$191.68$8.24 $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.

MultipleSONPKGGPK
P/E now vs peer median -21.6xmedian 19.3x 30.9xmedian 19.3x 13.4xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 2.3xmedian 0.7x 0.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.7x —median 9.7x 7.5xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 15.7x 28.1xmedian 15.7x 13.7xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.4x —median 1.4x 0.8xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.62median 0.82 -12.62median 0.82 -0.39median 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 monthsSONPKGGPK
Revenue $7.37B $9.82B $8.64B
Gross profit $1.49B $2.02B $1.34B
Operating income $202.22M $1.10B $504.00M
Net income -$226.60M – $194.00M
Free cash flow – – $189.00M
EPS (diluted) $-2.28 $8.17 $0.65
Cash & equivalents $183.10M – $205.00M
Total debt – – $5.67B
Shares (diluted) 99.78M 89.00M 296.70M
Enterprise value $4.91B $22.42B $1.80B

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
MetricSONPKGGPK
P/E -21.6x 30.9x 13.4x
P/FCF 13.9x 28.1x 13.7x
P/Operating cash flow 7.7x – 3.3x
P/S 0.7x 2.3x 0.3x
P/B 1.7x – 0.8x
P/Tangible book 14.6x – 1.0x
EV/EBITDA – – 7.5x
EV/EBIT – – 16.0x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 2.3x 0.9x
EV/FCF – – 42.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.7x – 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.62 -12.62 -0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSONPKGGPK
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.6% 12.0% 0.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.9% 7.8% -3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.3% 5.5% -26.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.7% 5.1% -13.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -63.5% -11.6% -45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -30.2% -0.2% -24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -136.1% – -63.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.0% – -35.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -136.2% -18.0% -63.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% -2.4% -34.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.3% – 3.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.8% – -10.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 147.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSONPKGGPK
Gross margin – – 15.5%
EBITDA margin – – 12.4%
Operating margin – – 5.8%
Pretax margin – – 2.9%
Net margin – – 2.2%
FCF margin – – 2.2%
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% – 9.2%
Return on equity -7.1% – 6.0%
Return on assets -2.1% – 1.7%
Return on invested capital – – 4.3%
Return on capital employed – – 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x – 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.8x – 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue – – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSONPKGGPK
Debt / assets – – 48.6%
Debt / equity – – 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – – 5.1x
Debt / FCF – – 30.0x
Liabilities / assets 72.2% – 72.2%
Equity / assets 27.8% – 27.8%
Interest coverage – – 2.0x
Current ratio 1.2x – 1.4x
Quick ratio – – 0.5x
Cash ratio – – 0.1x
Altman Z-score – – 1.34

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSONPKGGPK
Dividend yield 4.3% 2.2% 5.0%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 4.3% 2.2% 5.0%
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.

ConsensusSONPKGGPK
Forward P/E 9.7xFY2026 23.2xFY2026 13.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.09FY2026 $10.92FY2026 $0.65FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.9%FY2026 +11.0%FY2026 -63.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.5% +32.1% +44.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.65BFY2026 $9.55BFY2026 $8.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +6.2%FY2026 -4.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.9% +18.1% +0.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSONPKGGPK
Held by institutions 97.9% 97.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 507 901 499
Change in shares held, QoQ +13.2% +1.6% +5.3%
Institutions buying 264 456 322
Institutions selling 160 291 130
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.57 2.48

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.

SONPKGGPK
SON 1.00 0.46 0.44
PKG 0.46 1.00 0.45
GPK 0.44 0.45 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SON, PKG and GPK?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sonoco Products (SON) $4.91B, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $22.42B, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) $2.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, SON, PKG and GPK?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sonoco Products (SON) -21.6x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 30.8x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sonoco Products (SON) is cheapest (Sonoco Products (SON) 9.7x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 23.2x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.5x). 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: Sonoco Products (SON) +3.6%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +12.0%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) +0.0%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) returned the most: Sonoco Products (SON) +22.1%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +23.9%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -49.2%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Sonoco Products (SON) -3.2%/yr, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +13.4%/yr, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -15.1%/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 (Sonoco Products (SON) 33.7%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.0%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 47.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SON, PKG and GPK?

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.