Crown (NYSE:CCK – Get Free Report) and Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW – Get Free Report) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.9% of Crown shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Crown shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Crown and Smurfit Westrock”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Crown | $13.26 billion | 0.95 | $738.00 million | $6.95 | 16.59 |
| Smurfit Westrock | $31.18 billion | 0.77 | $699.00 million | $0.94 | 48.85 |
Crown has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Smurfit Westrock. Crown is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smurfit Westrock, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Crown and Smurfit Westrock, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Crown | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 2.65 |
| Smurfit Westrock | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 2.85 |
Crown presently has a consensus target price of $128.20, suggesting a potential upside of 11.21%. Smurfit Westrock has a consensus target price of $57.69, suggesting a potential upside of 25.64%. Given Smurfit Westrock’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Smurfit Westrock is more favorable than Crown.
Volatility and Risk
Crown has a beta of 0.58, meaning that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 0.95, meaning that its share price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Crown and Smurfit Westrock’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Crown | 5.91% | 27.33% | 6.52% |
| Smurfit Westrock | 1.59% | 4.60% | 1.85% |
Dividends
Crown pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Crown pays out 20.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Smurfit Westrock pays out 192.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Crown has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.
Summary
Crown beats Smurfit Westrock on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Crown
Crown Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the packaging business in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The company manufactures and sells recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, aluminum caps, non-beverage cans, and aerosol cans and closures. It also provides manual, semi-automatic, and automatic equipment and tools to apply and remove consumables, such as straps and films; protective solutions, including airbags, edge protectors, and honeycomb products; and steel and plastic consumables include steel strap, plastic strap, industrial film, and other related products. The company serves food industries, including pet food, personal care, household, and industrial products. Crown Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
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.
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