Comparing Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) & Amcor (NYSE:AMCR)

Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) and Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

45.1% of Amcor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sonoco Products shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Amcor shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Sonoco Products shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Amcor and Sonoco Products, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Amcor	0	7	4	1	2.50
Sonoco Products	2	6	3	0	2.09

Amcor currently has a consensus price target of $49.36, indicating a potential upside of 11.41%. Sonoco Products has a consensus price target of $57.38, indicating a potential upside of 16.26%. Given Sonoco Products’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sonoco Products is more favorable than Amcor.

Profitability

This table compares Amcor and Sonoco Products’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Amcor	4.55%	15.85%	5.00%
Sonoco Products	-3.08%	16.40%	5.16%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Amcor and Sonoco Products”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Amcor	$23.89 billion	0.86	$177.00 million	$2.33	19.01
Sonoco Products	$7.52 billion	0.65	$1.00 billion	($2.30)	-21.46

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

Dividends

Amcor pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Sonoco Products pays an annual dividend of $2.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Amcor pays out 113.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sonoco Products pays out -93.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amcor has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Sonoco Products has increased its dividend for 43 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Amcor has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sonoco Products has a beta of 0.37, suggesting that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Amcor beats Sonoco Products on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Amcor

Amcor plc is a global packaging company that develops and manufactures packaging for food and beverage, healthcare, personal care, home care and other consumer products. Its offerings include flexible packaging, rigid containers, closures and specialty cartons, as well as packaging materials and services for pharmaceutical and medical applications. The company serves customers across a broad range of international markets. In 2025, Amcor completed its combination with Berry Global, expanding its packaging portfolio and global reach.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company is a global packaging manufacturer founded in 1899 and headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina. It develops packaging and related services for customers in industries including food, consumer goods, health care and manufacturing. Its products include metal and paper containers, flexible packaging, industrial paper-based packaging and protective packaging. Sonoco also provides packaging-related services, such as supply-chain and graphics management. The company serves customers worldwide through operations in multiple regions, including North America, Europe and Asia.