Packaging Corporation of America vs Sonoco
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The short version
- Packaging Corporation of America is the larger business, with $9.0B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.5B for Sonoco.
- Sonoco grew revenue faster (41.7%, against 7.2%).
- Sonoco kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (13.5% operating margin, against 12.3%).
- Packaging Corporation of America turned more of its sales into free cash flow (8.1% FCF margin, against 4.6%).
- Packaging Corporation of America earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.8%, against 9.4%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Packaging Corporation of America’s earnings: a P/E of 32.1x against 4.9x for Sonoco.
| Latest fiscal year | PKG · FY25 | SON · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $22.0B | $5.0B |
| Revenue | $9.0B | $7.5B |
| Free cash flow | $729M | $346M |
| Net income | $774M | $1.0B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 7.2% | 41.7% |
| 5-year growth | 6.2% | 7.1% |
| Share count change | 0.1% | 0.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 21.0% | 20.9% |
| Operating margin | 12.3% | 13.5% |
| Net margin | 8.6% | 13.3% |
| FCF margin | 8.1% | 4.6% |
| Return on capital | 11.8% | 9.4% |
| Return on equity | 17.2% | 34.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.4B | $3.9B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.9x | 2.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $603M | $219M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 32.1x | 4.9x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 5 |
Revenue
FY16
PKG $5.8B
SON $4.9B
FY17
PKG $6.4B
SON $5.2B
FY18
PKG $7.0B
SON $5.5B
FY19
PKG $7.0B
SON $5.5B
FY20
PKG $6.7B
SON $5.3B
FY21
PKG $7.7B
SON $5.7B
FY22
PKG $8.5B
SON $5.9B
FY23
PKG $7.8B
SON $5.4B
FY24
PKG $8.4B
SON $5.3B
FY25
PKG $9.0B
SON $7.5B
PKG
SON
Operating margin
FY16
PKG 13.6%
SON 10.3%
FY17
PKG 14.5%
SON 8.0%
FY18
PKG 15.2%
SON 7.9%
FY19
PKG 15.1%
SON 8.5%
FY20
PKG 10.9%
SON 6.7%
FY21
PKG 16.1%
SON 8.5%
FY22
PKG 16.8%
SON 9.6%
FY23
PKG 13.8%
SON 10.8%
FY24
PKG 13.1%
SON 6.2%
FY25
PKG 12.3%
SON 13.5%
PKG
SON
Free cash flow
FY16
PKG $533M
SON $212M
FY17
PKG $513M
SON $159M
FY18
PKG $629M
SON $397M
FY19
PKG $808M
SON $230M
FY20
PKG $612M
SON $511M
FY21
PKG $489M
SON $42.7M
FY22
PKG $671M
SON $180M
FY23
PKG $845M
SON $520M
FY24
PKG $522M
SON $441M
FY25
PKG $729M
SON $346M
PKG
SON
Return on capital
FY16
PKG 12.9%
SON 13.1%
FY17
PKG 17.1%
SON 8.4%
FY18
PKG 17.2%
SON 11.8%
FY19
PKG 16.6%
SON 11.0%
FY20
PKG 11.1%
SON 8.9%
FY21
PKG 18.7%
SON 12.1%
FY22
PKG 19.2%
SON 10.7%
FY23
PKG 14.1%
SON 8.6%
FY24
PKG 14.0%
SON 4.2%
FY25
PKG 11.8%
SON 9.4%
PKG
SON
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.