5 Best Packaging Stocks to Buy Now

In this article we talk about the best packaging stocks to buy now. If you want to read our detailed investment thesis and rationale behind investing in packaging stocks, click and read 10 Best Packaging Stocks to Buy Now.

North Carolina-based Sealed Air is famous for its Cryovac food packaging and Bubble Wrap cushioning packaging brands. In November, the stock was given an upbeat rating by Bank of America on the back of its bullish outlook over the next 5 years. The company’s shares rallied in October 2020 after it beat analysts’ estimates for its third-quarter results. The company reported a non-GAAP EPS of $0.82, surpassing the Street’s forecasts by $0.16. For full-year 2020, Sealed Air expects a revenue of $4.85 billion, above the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. EPS in the period is expected to come in at $3.05, while analysts were expecting $2.93.

Insider Monkey’s database shows that 31 elite hedge funds had Sealed Air shares in their portfolios entering the fourth quarter, up from 28 funds a quarter earlier.

International Paper is a Tennessee-based packaging company. Its stock is up close to 50% over the last 6 months. International Paper is currently in a cost-cutting mode. In December it announced to spin off its papers segment in a standalone company. In January 2020, the company revealed plans to divest its 90.38% shareholding interest in Olmuksan International Paper to Mondi Group for about $81 million.

As of the end of the third quarter, 32 hedge funds out of the 816 funds tracked by Insider Monkey had stakes in International Paper. The net worth of these stakes is $199.32 million. Cliff Asness’ AQR Capital Management owns about 1.7 million shares of the company.

Westrock ranks 3rd on the list of the 10 best packaging stocks to buy now, as 32 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning stakes in the company, as of the end of the third quarter. The net worth of these investments is $502.48 million. WestRock was formed in 2015 as a result of the merger between MeadWestvaco and RockTenn.

In November, the company reported its quarterly earnings, beating the Wall Street’s estimates. The company earned $0.73 per share on a revenue of $4.47 billion. Bank of America recently gave a bullish rating for WestRock shares, citing a strong ecommerce penetration in the U.S.

Ball Corp. is a Colorado-based company known for its glass jars, lids, recyclable containers and packs. In November 2020, Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Ball Corporation to $110 from $87 with an Overweight rating following the company’s strong third-quarter results. In October 2020, the stock was upgraded by BMO to Outperform with a price target of $107. The firm said that it is “optimistic, even incredulous” on the company’s growth potential, especially in the beverage cans market.

Richard Chilton’s Chilton Investment Company is one of the 33 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey who held stakes in the company entering the fourth quarter. The fund owns 3,280,621 shares of the company, having a total worth of $272,685. Brown Advisory talked about BLL in their 2020 Q2 investor letter:

“Ball Corporation kept our grocery stores stocked while managing through the dramatic worldwide demand shifts from restaurant and bar consumption to in-home. While Brazil is a particularly challenged geography, and higher-margin specialty cans made way for more straight-forward production of 6-pack beverages, Ball was able to expand margins on flat sales relative to last year in the same quarter. We maintained our position.”

Crown is a Pennsylvania-based company that makes beverage and food cans, aerosol containers, metal closures and specialty packing. In the third quarter, Crown posted an EPS of $1.96, beating the Street’s estimates by $0.37. Revenue in the period totaled $3.17 billion, which was also better than the forecasts. Crown shares on Jan. 4 reached their 52-week high. The company is benefitting from a rising demand of beverage cans. The company said in its third-quarter results that the demand in emerging markets like Mexico and Brazil is surging past expectations due to rising per capita income and beverage consumption.

Crown tops the list of 10 best packaging stocks to buy now as 47 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company as of the end of the third quarter. Upslope Capital talked about CCK in their 2020 Q1 investor letter:

“We also added Crown Holdings (CCK), a global beverage/food can business that we’ve been both long and short in the past. The vast majority of CCK’s cash flows exhibit modest, non-cyclical growth; and, investors appear to be ignoring potential upside from the typically lackluster food can segment. But, a levered balance sheet has spooked investors.”

Please also see 15 Best Undervalued Stocks To Buy Now and Billionaire Louis Bacon’s Top 10 Picks

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