Crown (NYSE:CCK – Get Free Report) and Greif Bros. (NYSE:GEF.B – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and profitability.
Profitability
This table compares Crown and Greif Bros.’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% |
| Greif Bros. | 7.53% | 13.66% | 6.52% |
Risk and Volatility
Crown has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greif Bros. has a beta of 0.58, suggesting that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Dividends
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Crown and Greif Bros., as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Crown | 0 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 2.65 |
| Greif Bros. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Crown currently has a consensus target price of $128.20, indicating a potential upside of 9.47%. Given Crown’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Crown is more favorable than Greif Bros..
Institutional & Insider Ownership
90.9% of Crown shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.1% of Greif Bros. shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Crown shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.2% of Greif Bros. shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Crown and Greif Bros.”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Crown | $12.37 billion | 1.03 | $738.00 million | $6.95 | 16.85 |
| Greif Bros. | $5.45 billion | 0.91 | $268.80 million | $3.56 | 30.17 |
Crown has higher revenue and earnings than Greif Bros.. Crown is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Greif Bros., indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Crown beats Greif Bros. on 11 of the 15 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 Greif Bros.
Greif, Inc. produces and sells industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates through four segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services; Paper Packaging & Services; Flexible Products & Services; and Land Management. The Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services segment offers rigid industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services. This segment sells its products to customers in the chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agricultural, pharmaceutical and minerals, and other industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment provides containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Flexible Products & Services segment offers flexible intermediate bulk containers comprising polypropylene-based woven fabric, as well as related services to the agricultural, food, and other industries. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use land. As of October 31, 2020, this segment owned approximately 244,000 acres of timber property in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is based in Delaware, Ohio.
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