Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) & Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) Head-To-Head Review

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) and Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. Sonoco Products pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Smurfit Westrock pays out 133.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sonoco Products pays out 55.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sonoco Products is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Smurfit Westrock and Sonoco Products, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smurfit Westrock	0	3	3	0	2.50
Sonoco Products	1	0	2	0	2.33

Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus target price of $56.50, suggesting a potential upside of 23.90%. Sonoco Products has a consensus target price of $59.00, suggesting a potential upside of 8.86%. Given Smurfit Westrock’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Smurfit Westrock is more favorable than Sonoco Products.

Risk & Volatility

Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sonoco Products has a beta of 0.68, suggesting that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Smurfit Westrock and Sonoco Products’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smurfit Westrock	1.36%	7.13%	2.67%
Sonoco Products	5.57%	20.10%	6.73%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Smurfit Westrock and Sonoco Products”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smurfit Westrock	$20.31 billion	1.17	-$22.40 million	$0.91	50.11
Sonoco Products	$6.78 billion	0.79	$474.96 million	$3.72	14.57

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sonoco Products shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Sonoco Products shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging segments. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid paper, steel, and plastic containers; metal and peelable membrane ends, closures, and components; thermoformed plastic trays and enclosures; and high-barrier flexible packaging products. The Industrial Paper Packaging segment provides paperboard tubes, cones, and cores; paper-based protective packaging products; and uncoated recycled paperboard products. It also offers various packaging materials, including plastic, paper, foam, and other specialty materials. Sonoco Products Company sells its products in various markets, which include paper, textile, film, food, packaging, construction, and wire and cable. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina.