Critical Review: Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) and Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG)

Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) and Silgan (NYSE:SLGN) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Packaging Corporation of America and Silgan”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Packaging Corporation of America	$9.53 billion	2.15	$774.10 million	$7.70	29.81
Silgan	$6.48 billion	0.58	$288.40 million	$2.55	14.04

Packaging Corporation of America has higher revenue and earnings than Silgan. Silgan is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Packaging Corporation of America, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Packaging Corporation of America and Silgan, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Packaging Corporation of America	0	3	6	1	2.80
Silgan	0	3	8	1	2.83

Packaging Corporation of America currently has a consensus price target of $270.43, indicating a potential upside of 17.80%. Silgan has a consensus price target of $52.60, indicating a potential upside of 46.94%. Given Silgan’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Silgan is more favorable than Packaging Corporation of America.

Dividends

Packaging Corporation of America pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. Silgan pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Packaging Corporation of America pays out 77.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Silgan pays out 32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Silgan has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Packaging Corporation of America and Silgan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Packaging Corporation of America	7.25%	18.94%	8.10%
Silgan	4.05%	16.74%	4.09%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.8% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.3% of Silgan shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Silgan shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Packaging Corporation of America has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Silgan has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Packaging Corporation of America beats Silgan on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Packaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on transportation assets, such as rail cars, and trucks. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, IL.

About Silgan

Silgan Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems. The Metal Containers segment manufactures and sells steel and aluminum containers for food products, such as pet food, vegetables, soups, proteins, fruits, and other miscellaneous food products, as well as general line metal containers primarily for chemicals. The Custom Containers segment manufactures and sells custom designed and stock plastic containers for use in personal care and health care; food and beverage; household and industrial chemical; pharmaceutical; pet food and care; agricultural; automotive. This segment also provides thermoformed barrier and non-barrier bowls, and trays for food products, such as soups, other ready-to-eat meals, and pet food products; and plastic closures, caps, sifters, and fitments, as well as thermoformed tubs for food, household, and personal care products. The company markets its products primarily through direct sales force, as well as through a network of distributors, and an online shopping catalog. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.