Upcoming AWS Coverage on Ball Corp. Post-Earnings Results

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / February 10, 2017 / Active Wall St. announces its post-earnings coverage on Packaging Corp. of America (NYSE: PKG). The Company announced its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2016 results on January 30, 2017. The maker of containerboard and corrugated packaging products surpassed top- and bottom-line expectations. Register with us now for your free membership at:

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One of Packaging Corp. of America's competitors within the Packaging & Containers space, Ball Corp. (NYSE: BLL), announced its Q4 2016 earnings on Thursday, February 02, 2017. AWS will be initiating a research report on Ball Corp. in the coming days.

Today, AWS is promoting its earnings coverage on PKG; touching on BLL. Get our free coverage by signing up to:

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Earnings Reviewed

For the three months ended December 31, 2016, Packaging Corp. reported net sales of $1.47 billion compared to net sales of $1.39 billion in Q4 2015. The Company's net sales numbers beat analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 billion. Packaging Corp.'s FY16 net sales were $5.78 billion compared to FY15 net sales of $5.74 billion.

Packaging Corp. reported Q4 2016 net income of $111 million, or $1.17 per share. The Company's reported earnings include the impact of $.06 per share of special items expense in Q4 2016. Excluding these special items, Q4 2016 net income was $116 million, or $1.23 per share, compared to Q4 2015 net income of $105 million, or $1.08 per share, topping analysts' consensus for earnings of $1.16 per share. Total Company's EBITDA for Q4 2016 excluding special items, was $293 million compared to $265 million in Q4 2015.

Packaging Corp.'s FY16 earnings were $450 million, or $4.75 per share, and $4.88 per share excluding special items. Excluding special items, total Company's EBITDA in FY16 was $1.2 billion compared to $1.1 billion in FY15.

Segment Results

During Q4 2016, the Company's Packaging segment reported sales of $1.20 billion compared to $1.09 billion in Q4 2015. The segment's EBITDA, excluding special items totaled $259.2 million in the reported quarter compared to $252 million in the year earlier same quarter. In the Packaging segment, total corrugated products shipments were up 9.7%, or 11.5% per workday, over Q4 2015. Packaging segment's Containerboard production was 962,000 tons, and containerboard inventory was flat compared to year-end 2015 levels.

For Q4 2016, Packaging Corp.'s Printing Papers segment reported sales of $253.8 million compared to $272.8 million in Q4 2015. The segment's EBITDA, excluding special items, for the reported quarter increased to $50.0 million compared to $28.2 million in the year earlier corresponding period. The Company stated that its Paper segment's price and mix was higher than Q4 2015. Paper volume was lower compared to Q4 2015, primarily due to the previously announced shutdown of market pulp operations at its Wallula Mill.

Balance Sheet & Cash Flow

Packaging Corp.'s cash provided by operations in Q4 2016 was $213 million. After deducting $64 million in cash tax payments and $4 million in pension payments. Other uses of cash included $100 million to pay for the Columbus Container acquisition; capital expenditures of $86 million, common stock dividends totaled $59 million, and $7 million in term loan repayments. The Company ended the reported quarter with $239 million of cash on hand.

For FY16, Packaging Corp.'s cash from operations was a record $801 million, and free cash flow was a record $527 million.

Outlook

For FY17, Packaging Corp. is expecting total capital expenditures to be between $310 million to $325 million. Pension expense is expected to be $25 million, and the Company is expected to make cash pension payments of $43 million. The combined federal and state effective tax rate for FY17 is expected to be similar to FY16 at just over 34%. For FY17, the total earnings are expected to be $0.51 per share versus $0.42 per share for FY16.

Stock Performance

Packaging Corp. of America's share price finished yesterday's trading session at $93.75, marginally falling 0.46%. A total volume of 1.16 million shares exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3 months average volume of 881.01 thousand shares. The stock has surged 24.70% and 98.54% in the last six months and past twelve months, respectively. Furthermore, since the start of the year, shares of the Company have surged 10.53%. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 19.73 and has a dividend yield of 2.69%.

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SOURCE: Active Wall Street