Head to Head Survey: Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE) & Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Packaging Corporation of America	7.25%	18.96%	8.14%
Myers Industries	4.86%	19.86%	6.88%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Packaging Corporation of America and Myers Industries”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Packaging Corporation of America	$9.53 billion	2.39	$774.10 million	$7.70	33.24
Myers Industries	$844.62 million	1.54	$34.93 million	$0.97	35.55

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

Dividends

Packaging Corporation of America pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Myers Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. 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. Myers Industries pays out 55.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Risk & Volatility

Packaging Corporation of America has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Myers Industries has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

89.8% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Myers Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.6% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.8% of Myers Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Packaging Corporation of America and Myers Industries, 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
Myers Industries	0	2	1	0	2.33

Packaging Corporation of America presently has a consensus target price of $261.57, indicating a potential upside of 2.18%. Myers Industries has a consensus target price of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.29%. Given Myers Industries’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Myers Industries is more favorable than Packaging Corporation of America.

Summary

Packaging Corporation of America beats Myers Industries on 10 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 Myers Industries

Myers Industries, Inc. engages in distribution of tire service supplies in Ohio. It operates through two segments, The Material Handling and Distribution. The Material Handling segment offers pallets, small parts bins, bulk shipping containers, and OEM parts, as well as storage and organization, and custom plastic products; and injection molded, rotationally molded or blow molded products, consumer fuel containers and tanks for water, fuel, and waste handling. It serves industrial manufacturing, food processing, retail/wholesale products distribution, agriculture, automotive, recreational and marine vehicles, healthcare, appliance, bakery, electronics, textiles, consumer markets, and other markets under Akro-Mils, Jamco, Buckhorn, Ameri-Kart, Scepter, Elkhart Plastics, Trilogy Plastics, and Signature Systems brands directly to end-users, as well as through distributors. The Distribution segment engages in the distribution of tools, equipment, and supplies for tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service on passenger, heavy truck, and off-road vehicles; and manufacture and sale of tire repair materials and custom rubber products, as well as reflective highway marking tapes under the Myers Tire Supply, Myers Tire Supply International, Tuffy Manufacturing, Mohawk Rubber Sales, Patch Rubber Company, Elrick, Fleetline, MTS, Seymoure, Advance Traffic Markings, and MXP brands. This segment serves retail and truck tire dealers, commercial auto and truck fleets, auto dealers, general service and repair centers, tire re-treaders, truck stop operations, and government agencies. Myers Industries, Inc. was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.