Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) versus Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) Head to Head Contrast

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) and Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) are both industrial products companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Graphic Packaging and Smurfit Westrock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.93%	30.74%	7.64%
Smurfit Westrock	1.36%	7.13%	2.67%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Graphic Packaging and Smurfit Westrock, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Graphic Packaging	1	1	6	0	2.63
Smurfit Westrock	0	3	3	0	2.50

Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus target price of $31.60, indicating a potential upside of 4.98%. Smurfit Westrock has a consensus target price of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 27.40%. Given Smurfit Westrock’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Smurfit Westrock is more favorable than Graphic Packaging.

Dividends

Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Graphic Packaging pays out 18.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Smurfit Westrock pays out 101.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Graphic Packaging and Smurfit Westrock”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Graphic Packaging	$9.09 billion	1.02	$723.00 million	$2.21	13.62
Smurfit Westrock	$12.46 billion	0.91	-$22.40 million	$1.19	37.27

Graphic Packaging has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Smurfit Westrock. Graphic Packaging is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smurfit Westrock, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Graphic Packaging beats Smurfit Westrock on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. The company offers unbleached, bleached, and recycled paperboard to various paperboard packaging converters and brokers. It also provides paperboard packaging products for consumer packaged goods companies; and cups, lids, and food containers for foodservice companies and quick-service restaurants serving the food, beverage, and consumer product markets, including healthcare and beauty. The company also designs, manufactures, and installs specialized packaging machines. The company sells its products through sales offices, as well as through broker arrangements with third parties in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Graphic Packaging Holding Company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland and internationally. The company produces containerboard that it converts into corrugated containers or sells to third parties, as well as produces other types of paper, such as consumer packaging board, sack paper, graphic paper, solid board and graphic board, and other paper-based packaging products, such as consumer packaging, solid board packaging, paper sacks, and other packaging products, including bag-in-box. It also produces linerboard and corrugated medium, paperboard, and non-packaging grades of paper, as well as converted products, such as folding cartons and corrugated boxes, and other products; recycled paper-based packaging products; and packaging machinery. The company primarily serves food and beverage, e-commerce, retail, consumer goods, industrial, and foodservice markets. Smurfit Westrock Plc was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.