Sectors & IndustriesConsumer CyclicalPackaging & Containers

Best Packaging & Container Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top packaging & container stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +28.50% per year, and are the best packaging & container stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best packaging & container stocks to buy right now are:

Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK) is the #1 top packaging & container stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: B, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Crown Holdings (NYSE:CCK) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 10 points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 35.

CCK passed 17 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Crown Holdings has seen its stock return 13.13% over the past year, overperforming other packaging & container stocks by 6 percentage points.

Crown Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $130.15, an upside of 10.41% from Crown Holdings's current stock price of $117.88.

Crown Holdings stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 13 analysts covering Crown Holdings, 30.77% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 30.77% have issued a Buy, 38.46% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa (NYSE:AMBP) is the #2 top packaging & container stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of B. Stocks with a rating of B have had an average return of +17.17% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa (NYSE:AMBP) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa (NYSE:AMBP) has a Due Diligence Score of 29, which is -6 points lower than the packaging & container industry average of 35. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates AMBP as a "B".

AMBP passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa has seen its stock return 23.2% over the past year, overperforming other packaging & container stocks by 16 percentage points.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa has an average 1 year price target of $5.00, an upside of 4.6% from Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa's current stock price of $4.78.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 66.67% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) is the #3 top packaging & container stock out of 21 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +5.11% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: B, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) has a Due Diligence Score of 50, which is 15 points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 35.

KRT passed 19 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Karat Packaging has seen its stock return 40.89% over the past year, overperforming other packaging & container stocks by 34 percentage points.

Karat Packaging has an average 1 year price target of $34.00, a downside of -13.97% from Karat Packaging's current stock price of $39.52.

Karat Packaging stock has a consensus Sell recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 1 analyst covering Karat Packaging, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 100% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 16 packaging & container stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 packaging & container stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa (NYSE:AMBP) has an annual dividend yield of 6.28%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 2.85%. Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Ardagh Metal Packaging Sa's dividend payout ratio of 800% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ:KRT) has an annual dividend yield of 4.55%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 2.85%.

Karat Packaging's dividend payout ratio of 113.2% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

International Paper Co (NYSE:IP) has an annual dividend yield of 4.39%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 2.85%. International Paper Co's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. International Paper Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

International Paper Co's dividend payout ratio of -28.4% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Packaging & container stocks were up 4.7% in the last day, and up 3.5% over the last week. Packaging Of America was the among the top gainers in the packaging & containers industry, gaining 8.76% yesterday.

Packaging Corp of America shares are trading higher after JP Morgan raised its price target on the stock from $269 to $271.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued packaging & container stocks right now are:

Graphic Packaging Holding Co (NYSE:GPK) is the most undervalued packaging & container stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co has a valuation score of 57, which is 33 points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 24. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Graphic Packaging Holding Co's stock has dropped -52.52% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the packaging & container industry by -59 percentage points.

Sonoco Products Co (NYSE:SON) is the second most undervalued packaging & container stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Sonoco Products Co has a valuation score of 43, which is 19 points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 24. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sonoco Products Co's stock has gained 19.86% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the packaging & container industry by 13 percentage points.

O I Glass (NYSE:OI) is the third most undervalued packaging & container stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

O I Glass has a valuation score of 14, which is -10 points higher than the packaging & container industry average of 24. It passed 1 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates OI a Valuation Rating of "B".

O I Glass's stock has dropped -38.06% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the packaging & container industry by -45 percentage points.

44.44% of packaging & container stocks rated by analysts are a strong buy right now. On average, analysts expect packaging & container stocks to rise by 8.96% over the next year.

0% of packaging & container stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 10.53% of packaging & container stocks are rated B (Buy), 73.68% are rated C (Hold), 15.79% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).