Packaging Corporation of America management check
PKG · Materials · Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials · CEO Mark W Kowlzan
Filings as of
4 good · 3 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $174, against $114 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.62 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Watch
What does the CEO cost owners?
2.2% of net income$17.0m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $774.1m of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 6.1 years of payThe CEO holds 473,610 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 6.1 years of pay. 3 insiders sold $12.2m in the last six months and none bought.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.1% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.5% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
4 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Kowlzan. 4 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Materials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 40 | |
| Pay for performance | 81 | 77 | |
| CEO cost | 22 | 40 | |
| Skin in the game | 54 | 38 | |
| Dilution | 49 | 71 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 70 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Paper & Plastic Packaging Products & Materials, by management score. Packaging Corporation of America is 7th of 24 in its sector.
- 148PKGPackaging Corporation of America72
- 161LINLinde plc72
- 172SWSmurfit Westrock71
- 189AVYAvery Dennison69
- 453AMCRAmcor46
- 474IPInternational Paper38
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 27, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Kowlzan | $17.0m | $13.0m | $5.3m | $174 | $114 | $774.1m |
| 2024 | — | $15.7m | $37.8m | $5.8m | $185 | $120 | $805.1m |
| 2023 | — | $15.2m | $26.4m | $5.6m | $130 | $114 | $765.2m |
| 2022 | — | $12.2m | $14.2m | $5.0m | $99 | $97 | $1.0bn |
| 2021 | — | $12.5m | $8.9m | $4.7m | $102 | $122 | $841.1m |
The board says pay is tied most to Earnings per share excluding special items. Its other key measures: Relative total shareholder return (against peer companies), Earnings per share, excluding special items, Return on invested capital.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Mark W Kowlzan (Chairman & CEO) held 473,610 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on May 27, 2026, roughly $102.8m at that filing's price.
3 insiders sold $12.2m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldThomas A HassfurtherPresident$7.2mAug 7, 2026
- SoldDonald R. ShirleyExec. VP$3.0mAug 20, 2026
- SoldMark W KowlzanChairman & CEO$2.0mMay 27, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Mar 3, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 28, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 9, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 29, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 25, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 13, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $3.1bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 73% of net income, and $205.1m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $7.7bn | $8.5bn | $7.8bn | $8.4bn | $9.0bn |
| Net income | $841.1m | $1.0bn | $765.2m | $805.1m | $774.1m |
| Stock-based pay | $35.5m | $35.6m | $40.0m | $48.8m | $45.2m |
| Buybacks | $193.0m | $522.6m | $41.5m | $0 | $153.0m |
| Dividends | $379.8m | $420.3m | $448.9m | $448.8m | $449.6m |
| Diluted shares | 95m | 93m | 90m | 90m | 90m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.