Reviewing Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) and Stora Enso Oyj (OTCMKTS:SEOAY)

Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE:LPX) and Stora Enso Oyj (OTCMKTS:SEOAY) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, dividends and valuation.

Dividends

Louisiana-Pacific pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Stora Enso Oyj pays an annual dividend of $0.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Louisiana-Pacific pays out 151.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Stora Enso Oyj pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Louisiana-Pacific has raised its dividend for 7 consecutive years. Louisiana-Pacific is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Louisiana-Pacific and Stora Enso Oyj, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Louisiana-Pacific	3	0	11	0	2.57
Stora Enso Oyj	1	2	1	0	2.00

Louisiana-Pacific currently has a consensus price target of $94.00, suggesting a potential upside of 29.67%. Stora Enso Oyj has a consensus price target of $10.80, suggesting a potential downside of 6.57%. Given Louisiana-Pacific’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Louisiana-Pacific is more favorable than Stora Enso Oyj.

Profitability

This table compares Louisiana-Pacific and Stora Enso Oyj’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Louisiana-Pacific	2.19%	4.67%	3.10%
Stora Enso Oyj	6.20%	2.38%	1.30%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Louisiana-Pacific and Stora Enso Oyj”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Louisiana-Pacific	$2.71 billion	1.87	$146.00 million	$0.79	91.76
Stora Enso Oyj	$10.55 billion	0.86	$786.32 million	$0.84	13.76

Stora Enso Oyj has higher revenue and earnings than Louisiana-Pacific. Stora Enso Oyj is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Louisiana-Pacific, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.7% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.0% of Stora Enso Oyj shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Louisiana-Pacific shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.1% of Stora Enso Oyj shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Louisiana-Pacific has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its share price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Stora Enso Oyj has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Louisiana-Pacific beats Stora Enso Oyj on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Louisiana-Pacific

Louisiana-Pacific Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides building solutions primarily for use in new home construction, repair and remodeling, and outdoor structure markets. It operates through Siding, Oriented Strand Board, LP South America, and Other segments. The Siding segment offers LP SmartSide trim and siding products, LP SmartSide ExpertFinish trim and siding products, LP BuilderSeries lap siding products, and LP Outdoor Building Solutions; and engineered wood siding, trim, soffit, and fascia products. Its Oriented Strand Board segment manufactures and distributes oriented strand board structural panel products comprising LP TechShield radiant barriers, LP WeatherLogic air and water barriers, LP Legacy premium sub-flooring products, LP NovaCore, LP FlameBlock fire-rated sheathing products, and LP TopNotch sub-flooring products. The LP South America segment manufactures and distributes oriented strand board structural panel and siding products. This segment distributes and sells related products for the region's transition to wood frame construction. It offers timber and timberlands and other products and services. sells its products primarily to retailers, wholesalers, and homebuilding and industrial businesses in North America and South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe. The company was incorporated in 1972 and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.

About Stora Enso Oyj

Stora Enso Oyj provides renewable solutions for the packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions, and paper industries in Finland and internationally. It operates through Packaging Materials, Packaging Solutions, Biomaterials, Wood Products, Forest, Paper, and Other segments. The company's Packaging Materials segment offers virgin and recycled fiber replace fossil-based materials with low-carbon, renewable and recyclable packaging materials for food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and transport packaging. Its Packaging Solutions segment develops and sells fiber-based packaging products and services, including converting corrugated boards and carton boards; and new materials, such as formed fiber and wood foams into standard and bespoke packaging solutions for retail, e-commerce, and industrials. The company's Biomaterials segment provides various pulp for packaging, paper, tissue, specialties, and hygiene product producers; and tall oil and turpentine from biomass. Its Wood Products segment offers wood-based solutions, including digital tools for design and construction of building projects with wood; applications for windows and doors; and pellets for sustainable heating solutions. The company's Forest segment engages in sustainable forest management, as well as supplies wood. Its Paper segments offers portfolio of products for print and office use. The company's Other segment produces electricity and heat. It serves packaging manufacturers, brand owners, paper merchants, publishers, retailers, printing houses, converters, and construction companies. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.