Packaging Corp. of America Beats Analyst Estimates on EPS

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Packaging Corp. of America (NYS: PKG) reported earnings on Jan. 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), Packaging Corp. of America beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded, and earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins dropped across the board.

Revenue details
Packaging Corp. of America booked revenue of $654 million. The nine analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ expected net sales of $641 million. Sales were 4.4% higher than the prior-year quarter's $627 million

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.40. The 11 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ forecast $0.37 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.40 for Q4 were 26% lower than the prior-year quarter's $0.54 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Figures may be non-GAAP to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 20.5%, 300 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 10.4%, 620 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 6.0%, 280 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $641 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.34.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $2.6 billion. The average EPS estimate is $1.87.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 167 members out of 179 rating the stock outperform, and 12 members rating it underperform. Among 61 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 59 give Packaging Corp. of America a green thumbs-up, and two give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Packaging Corp. of America is outperform, with an average price target of $30.46.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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