Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) versus Ball (NYSE:BALL) Critical Analysis

Ball (NYSE:BALL) and Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, earnings and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.5% of Ball shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.1% of Amcor shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ball shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Amcor shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility and Risk

Ball has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amcor has a beta of 0.56, meaning that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ball pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Amcor pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Ball pays out 40.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amcor pays out 110.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Amcor has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Amcor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ball and Amcor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ball	3.52%	18.81%	5.32%
Amcor	4.55%	15.86%	4.98%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Ball and Amcor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ball	0	4	9	0	2.69
Amcor	0	7	4	1	2.50

Ball presently has a consensus target price of $72.15, indicating a potential upside of 9.40%. Amcor has a consensus target price of $49.54, indicating a potential upside of 10.31%. Given Amcor’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Amcor is more favorable than Ball.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ball and Amcor”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ball	$15.13 billion	1.15	$912.00 million	$1.99	33.14
Amcor	$23.51 billion	0.88	$177.00 million	$2.36	19.03

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

Summary

Ball beats Amcor on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ball

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages. It also manufactures and sells extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles, aluminum cups, and aluminum slugs. Ball Corporation was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.

About Amcor

Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries. The Rigid Packaging segment offers rigid containers for various beverage and food products, including carbonated soft drinks, water, juices, sports drinks, milk-based beverages, spirits and beer, sauces, dressings, spreads, and personal care items; and plastic caps for various applications. The company sells its products through its direct sales force. Amcor plc was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.