Earnings Preview: Packaging Corp. of America

Packaging Corp. of America PKG is set to report earnings tonight after the bell, and Wall Street will be looking forward to hearing how the containerboard and paper sector is doing, especially in light of the International Paper IP, Temple-Inland TIN buyout offer. At last check, shares of Packaging Corp. of America were off 57 cents to $27.11, a loss of 2.06%, slightly more than the loss that the broader markets are experiencing today. Shares are not expensive at these levels, trading at 11 times 2012 earnings. Packaging Corp. also pays a healthy dividend, yielding 2.90%, the same as a U.S. 10 year Treasury. Wall Street analysts are expecting earnings of 35 cents per share on $632.21 in revenues. This is down from 38 cents per share in the year ago quarter. Revenues are expected to rise almost 3% from last years $615.46 million. Guidance for next quarter is expected to come in at 50 cents per share on $649.57 million in revenues. Packaging Corporation of America produces and sells containerboard and corrugated products in the United States. Its corrugated packaging products, include conventional shipping containers used to protect and transport manufactured goods.