SW vs CCK vs PKG Stock Comparison

Smurfit Westrock, Crown Holdings and Packaging Corp Of America Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$41.85 -10.0% 1M -2.7% 1Y
Market cap
$22.12B
P/E
44.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
CCK Crown Holdings, Inc.
$117.33 +6.9% 1M +18.6% 1Y
Market cap
$12.79B
P/E
16.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$13.26B
Div. yield
0.01%
Metal Packaging Basic Materials
7 wins
PKG Packaging Corp Of America
$247.30 +2.6% 1M +16.0% 1Y
Market cap
$22.47B
P/E
32.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.53B
Div. yield
0.02%
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
5 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Crown Holdings leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Crown Holdings 7, Packaging Corp Of America 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSWCCKPKGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $22.12B $12.79B $22.47B PKG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 44.5x 16.3x 32.5x CCK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.4x 14.4x 22.6x CCK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.7% +10.3% +10.3% CCK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.6% 5.9% 7.3% PKG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.1% 12.7% 9.1% CCK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 2.6x 1.9x PKG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.02% PKG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -2.7% +18.6% +16.0% CCK
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.0%/yr +2.2%/yr +13.0%/yr PKG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 44.1% 25.3% 28.2% CCK
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 68/100 47/100 CCK

Percentile Scorecard

SWCCKPKG

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

AxisSWCCKPKG
Valuation 67 #6 of 16 60 #7 of 16 13 #14 of 16
Growth 67 #6 of 16 73 #5 of 16 27 #12 of 16
Profitability 40 #10 of 16 100 #1 of 16 93 #2 of 16
Financial Health 69 #6 of 17 38 #11 of 17 88 #3 of 17
Shareholder Returns 23 #11 of 14 69 #5 of 14 15 #12 of 14
Overall 53 68 47
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • CCK ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • PKG ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSWCCKPKGSPY
1 month -10.0%+6.9%+2.6% -1.0%
3 months -13.8%-0.5%-2.8% +2.9%
6 months +4.7%+16.0%+16.2% +6.4%
Year to date +8.2%+13.9%+19.9% +11.4%
1 year -2.7%+18.6%+16.0% +13.1%
3 years +32.4%+43.8%+66.1% +79.4%
3 years, per year +9.8%+12.9%+18.4% +21.5%
5 years -14.1%+11.7%+84.6% +67.7%
5 years, per year -3.0%+2.2%+13.0% +10.9%
10 years +91.0%+115.1%+203.3% +255.2%
10 years, per year +6.7%+8.0%+11.7% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureSWCCKPKGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 44.1%25.3%28.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 40.4%24.0%26.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.450.460.68 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.060.730.57 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.1%-48.5%-32.7% -25.4%
From 52-week high -19.3%-4.0%-3.9% -2.5%
52-week high $51.84$122.16$257.38 $779.14
52-week low $32.79$92.04$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.

MultipleSWCCKPKG
P/E now vs peer median 44.1xmedian 18.2x 16.4xmedian 18.2x 31.6xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 1.0xmedian 0.7x 2.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 8.4xmedian 9.5x 8.7xmedian 9.5x 14.0xmedian 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 21.6xmedian 15.7x 10.6xmedian 15.7x 29.8xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.4x 3.8xmedian 1.4x 4.7xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.83 0.76median 0.83 -4.47median 0.83

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 monthsSWCCKPKG
Revenue $31.33B $13.26B $9.53B
Gross profit $5.62B $2.78B $1.92B
Operating income $1.48B $1.63B $1.04B
Net income $497.00M $922.00M $691.80M
Free cash flow $1.02B $1.20B $739.90M
EPS (diluted) $0.94 $7.14 $7.77
Cash & equivalents $677.00M $656.00M $442.80M
Total debt $14.16B $6.06B $12.89B
Shares (diluted) 526.00M 109.80M 89.00M
Enterprise value $19.02B $9.61B $20.00B

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
MetricSWCCKPKG
P/E 44.1x 16.4x 31.6x
P/FCF 21.6x 10.6x 29.8x
P/Operating cash flow 6.7x 7.4x 13.6x
P/S 0.7x 1.0x 2.3x
P/B 1.2x 3.8x 4.7x
P/Tangible book 1.3x 5.1x 5.4x
EV/EBITDA 8.4x 8.7x 14.0x
EV/EBIT 24.0x 11.2x 24.5x
EV/Revenue 1.1x 1.4x 2.7x
EV/FCF 34.9x 15.2x 34.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.7x 10.5x 15.6x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 0.76 -4.47

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSWCCKPKG
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.7% 10.3% 10.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 2.4% 5.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -4.5% 3.7% 0.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 7.4% 1.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 17.2% 4.8% -16.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – 11.9% -4.9%
Net income growth (1Y) 41.2% 39.7% -23.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – 16.1% -7.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 40.1% 48.4% -22.9%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – 21.6% -7.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 52.3% 31.6% 25.8%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 24.2% 2.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 1,094% 20.1% 18.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 154.3% -3.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSWCCKPKG
Gross margin 17.9% 21.0% 20.1%
EBITDA margin 13.5% 15.8% 19.1%
Operating margin 4.7% 12.3% 10.9%
Pretax margin 2.3% 9.3% 9.6%
Net margin 1.6% 5.9% 7.3%
FCF margin 3.2% 9.0% 7.8%
Operating cash flow margin 10.5% 13.0% 17.0%
Return on equity 2.7% 27.2% 15.0%
Return on assets 1.1% 6.4% 6.3%
Return on invested capital 3.1% 12.7% 9.1%
Return on capital employed 3.9% 16.5% 10.6%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.9x 0.9x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 6.6x 1.9x 2.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.3% 0.5%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSWCCKPKG
Debt / assets 31.3% 41.6% 36.0%
Debt / equity 0.8x 1.8x 0.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 2.6x 1.9x
Debt / FCF 14.0x 5.1x 5.4x
Liabilities / assets 60.0% 76.9% 57.7%
Equity / assets 40.0% 23.1% 42.3%
Interest coverage – 4.1x –
Current ratio 1.4x 1.0x 2.9x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.7x 1.7x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.5x
Altman Z-score 1.44 – 4.01

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSWCCKPKG
Dividend yield 4.3% 1.1% 2.2%
Net buyback yield -0.1% 6.4% 0.3%
Shareholder yield 4.2% 7.5% 2.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 14.9% 64.8%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 11.4% 60.6%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 15.1% -0.3%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 7.6% -0.7%

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.

ConsensusSWCCKPKG
Forward P/E 18.4xFY2026 14.4xFY2026 22.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $2.27FY2026 $8.16FY2026 $10.94FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.7%FY2026 +4.7%FY2026 +11.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +66.5% +8.6% +31.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $33.69BFY2026 $12.96BFY2026 $9.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +8.1%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026 +5.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.8% +4.7% +17.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSWCCKPKG
Held by institutions 95.9% 98.3% 97.9%
Institutions holding 640 601 901
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.7% -3.3% +1.6%
Institutions buying 373 255 456
Institutions selling 191 270 291
Buyers to sellers 1.95 0.94 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.

SWCCKPKG
SW 1.00 0.53 0.78
CCK 0.53 1.00 0.50
PKG 0.78 0.50 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SW, CCK and PKG?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.12B, Crown Holdings (CCK) $12.79B, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) $22.47B.

Which stock is cheaper, SW, CCK and PKG?

Crown Holdings (CCK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.5x, Crown Holdings (CCK) 16.3x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 32.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Crown Holdings (CCK) is cheapest (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 18.4x, Crown Holdings (CCK) 14.4x, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 22.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Crown Holdings (CCK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, Crown Holdings (CCK) +10.3%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +10.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has the highest net margin (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, Crown Holdings (CCK) 5.9%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 7.3%). On return on invested capital, Crown Holdings (CCK) leads (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, Crown Holdings (CCK) 12.7%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 9.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Crown Holdings (CCK) returned the most: Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.7%, Crown Holdings (CCK) +18.6%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +16.0%. Over five years, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) compounded fastest (Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.0%/yr, Crown Holdings (CCK) +2.2%/yr, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) +13.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) has the highest dividend yield: Smurfit Westrock (SW) 0.00%, Crown Holdings (CCK) 0.01%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 0.02%. Smurfit Westrock (SW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Crown Holdings (CCK) has been the steadiest (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.1%, Crown Holdings (CCK) 25.3%, Packaging Corp Of America (PKG) 28.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SW, CCK 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, Crown Holdings (CCK) leads on 7. 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.