Head-To-Head Analysis: Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) versus Silgan (NYSE:SLGN)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Silgan	4.05%	16.74%	4.09%
Smurfit Westrock	1.59%	4.60%	1.85%

Volatility and Risk

Silgan has a beta of 0.67, indicating that its share price is 33% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Silgan shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Silgan shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Silgan and Smurfit Westrock, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Silgan	0	3	8	1	2.83
Smurfit Westrock	0	2	11	0	2.85

Silgan currently has a consensus price target of $54.00, indicating a potential upside of 55.45%. Smurfit Westrock has a consensus price target of $57.54, indicating a potential upside of 33.64%. Given Silgan’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Silgan is more favorable than Smurfit Westrock.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Silgan	$6.48 billion	0.57	$288.40 million	$2.55	13.62
Smurfit Westrock	$31.18 billion	0.72	$699.00 million	$0.94	45.80

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

Dividends

Silgan pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Silgan pays out 32.9% 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. Silgan has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

About Silgan

Silgan Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells rigid packaging solutions for consumer goods products in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Dispensing and Specialty Closures, Metal Containers, and Custom Containers. The Dispensing and Specialty Closures segment offers a range of metal and plastic closures, and dispensing systems for food, beverage, health care, garden, home, personal care, beauty products, and hard surface cleaning products, as well as capping/sealing equipment and detection systems. The Metal Containers segment manufactures and sells steel and aluminum containers for food products, such as pet food, vegetables, soups, proteins, fruits, and other miscellaneous food products, as well as general line metal containers primarily for chemicals. The Custom Containers segment manufactures and sells custom designed and stock plastic containers for use in personal care and health care; food and beverage; household and industrial chemical; pharmaceutical; pet food and care; agricultural; automotive. This segment also provides thermoformed barrier and non-barrier bowls, and trays for food products, such as soups, other ready-to-eat meals, and pet food products; and plastic closures, caps, sifters, and fitments, as well as thermoformed tubs for food, household, and personal care products. The company markets its products primarily through direct sales force, as well as through a network of distributors, and an online shopping catalog. The company was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.

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.