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Packaging Corporation of America key statistics and ratios

In fiscal 2025, Packaging Corporation of America had return on equity of 17.2% and a net margin of 8.6%. Each ratio below is calculated from the figures on its income statement, balance sheet and cash flow pages.

Financial ratios

US$ thousands unless shown otherwise. Fiscal years, plus the last twelve months (LTM) when newer.

Fiscal year2009Dec 20092010Dec 20102011Dec 20112012Dec 20122013Dec 20132014Dec 20142015Dec 20152016Dec 20162017Dec 20172018Dec 20182019Dec 20192020Dec 20202021Dec 20212022Dec 20222023Dec 20232024Dec 20242025Dec 2025LTMJun 2026
Net margin12.4%8.4%6.0%5.6%12.0%6.7%7.6%7.8%10.4%10.5%10.0%6.9%10.9%12.1%9.8%9.6%8.6%7.3%
Return on equity29.6%21.5%16.0%16.2%37.3%27.3%27.7%26.5%33.9%30.4%24.3%14.6%24.5%28.3%20.0%19.2%17.2%14.9%
Return on assets12.4%9.4%6.8%6.5%11.5%7.5%8.3%8.1%11.2%11.6%10.1%6.3%11.0%13.0%9.2%9.2%7.9%6.4%
Effective tax rate16.1%−34.2%35.1%57.2%−4.2%36.1%34.3%34.7%19.3%24.0%24.1%27.1%24.1%24.5%24.5%24.4%24.7%24.7%
R&D as % of revenue0.4%0.4%0.5%0.4%0.3%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.2%—————
SG&A as % of revenue8.1%7.5%9.9%9.9%8.9%8.0%7.9%8.1%8.1%7.6%8.0%8.1%7.5%7.2%7.4%7.3%7.1%7.1%
Dividends ÷ net income28.9%30.1%48.1%73.5%24.7%40.1%46.0%48.1%35.5%36.3%42.9%65.0%45.2%40.8%58.7%55.7%58.1%64.8%

Returns use average equity or assets over the year. Return on equity is left blank when equity is negative or so small that the ratio says nothing (above ±200%); interest cover is left blank above 200 times. Price-based ratios such as P/E are on the valuation page.

Financial health

2 of 5 checks passed · June 30, 2026
What it owns · $11.0bn
Short-term assets $3.4bnLonger-term assets $7.6bn
What it owes, and who funded it · $5.8bn
Short-term liabilities $1.2bnShareholders' equity $4.7bn
  • Short-term assets cover short-term liabilities $3.4bn of assets due within a year against $1.2bn of liabilities due within a year.
  • Short-term assets cover long-term liabilities Not assessable from the reported split. Not assessable.
  • More cash than debt $443m of cash against $4.0bn of debt.
  • Debt below 40% of shareholders' equity Debt is 85% of equity.
  • Debt burden no higher than five years ago Debt to equity moved from 69% to 85% over five years.
  • A year's operating cash flow covers at least 20% of debt $1.6bn of operating cash flow against $4.0bn of debt.
  • Operating profit covers interest at least five times over Interest not separately reported. Not assessable.

From Packaging Corporation of America's latest balance sheet as filed. Checks are fixed, documented rules (methodology), counted only where the company reports the figures — a dot means the filing doesn't break the item out. Descriptions of reported data, not advice.

Moat

64 /100

Moderate moat

How hard Packaging Corporation of America's competitive advantage looks for rivals to wear away, judged from 10 years of its own filings: returns on capital, pricing power, profit durability, cash conversion and discipline.

  • Returns on capital 17 / 20

    Cash operating profit has been a median 13.2% of total assets over 10 years.

  • Pricing power 9 / 20

    Gross margin has been a median 22.2%, moving by 1.5 percentage points (standard deviation) across 10 years.

  • Durability 14 / 20

    Operating margin has been a median 14.1%; its worst year was 10.9%.

  • Cash conversion 14 / 20

    Free cash flow was positive in 10 of 10 years, at a median 8.1% of revenue.

  • Discipline 10 / 20

    The diluted share count rose 23615.4% over five years; stock-based pay has been a median 0.4% of revenue.

AI disruption exposure: Low. In this industry, the business rests on physical assets, regulated networks or products AI itself depends on.

A rules-based reading of reported figures, not a forecast and not investment advice. How the score is built: methodology.

Compare with peers

Head to head: AVY vs PKGGPK vs PKGPKG vs SONAMCR vs PKG

More: Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials stocks compared, Materials sector, rankings of US companies

Figures from Packaging Corporation of America's SEC filings (10-K and 10-Q), retrieved October 20, 2026. How we read and check them: methodology and data sources. Not investment advice. Back to Packaging Corporation of America.