PACKAGING CORP OF AMERICA vs Smurfit Westrock plc, two Paper & Packaging stocks. A side-by-side on valuation, growth, margins, returns, and what each price is betting.
Where PKG and SW diverge most: on debt / equity, PKG reads 0.86 and SW reads 0.05; on return on assets, PKG reads 6.9% and SW reads 1.1%. The rest of the comparable metrics sit closer together. On valuation, today's PKG price has a different growth bar priced in than SW (+15.1% implied for PKG vs +16.9% for SW); the higher figure is the steeper assumption to clear, not a better or worse stock. What PKG's price implies is a bet that sits within the historical range (whole-company basis). The bull and bear cases for each are in their full reports below.
| Metric | PKG | SW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $246.66 | $45.97 |
| Market cap | $22.0B | $24.2B |
| Sector | Paper & Packaging | Paper & Packaging |
| Stage | Mature | Mature |
| Implied growth (priced in) | +15.1% | +16.9% |
| P/E | 30.0 | 48.9 |
| P/B | 4.79 | 1.34 |
| P/S | 2.38 | 0.77 |
| EV/EBITDA | 14.1 | 5.8 |
| Revenue growth | +7.8% | +1.7% |
| Gross margin | 19.1% | 17.4% |
| Operating margin | 10.6% | 3.9% |
| Net margin | 8.0% | 1.6% |
| Return on equity | 16.2% | 2.8% |
| Return on assets | 6.9% | 1.1% |
| Return on invested capital | 9.8% | 5.3% |
| FCF yield | 3.2% | 4.2% |
| Dividend yield | 2.0% | 3.7% |
| Debt / equity | 0.86 | 0.05 |
| Current ratio | 3.07 | 1.45 |
| Altman Z (solvency) | 7.68 | 1.41 |
| Piotroski F (quality) | 7 / 9 | 7 / 9 |
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The stronger value is highlighted per metric where one is strictly better on that single number; it is not an overall verdict on either company. For informational and research purposes only. Not investment advice. Not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. boothcheck is not a registered investment adviser. Past performance does not guarantee future results.