Packaging Corp, Greif gain on deal for containerboard unit sale

Packaging Corp of America shares PKG.N up 4.3% on deal to buy Greif's GEF.N containerboard business for $1.8 bln in cash

Greif shares up ~3%, adding to a ~16% surge in early June after Q2 results

PKG currently above $195, reclaiming its 100-day moving avg for first time since Jan 29

Still, PKG is down 13.5% YTD, third-biggest decliner on S&P 1500 containers and packaging index .SPCOMCOP

GEF up almost 10% YTD, third-highest gainer on 14-member index

GEF's Forward PE of 13.5 makes it the seventh-most expensive stock on the container index, but PKG PE of ~17.5 is second-highest

Analysts avg rating on PKG is "hold", and "buy" on GEF -LSEG data