Financial Review: Ball (NYSE:BALL) versus Winpak (OTCMKTS:WIPKF)

Winpak (OTCMKTS:WIPKF) and Ball (NYSE:BALL) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Dividends

Winpak pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Ball pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Winpak pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ball pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Winpak	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.17	27.05
Ball	$13.16 billion	1.26	$912.00 million	$3.53	17.81

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

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Winpak	0	2	0	0	2.00
Ball	1	4	8	0	2.54

Ball has a consensus price target of $71.69, suggesting a potential upside of 14.05%. Given Ball’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Ball is more favorable than Winpak.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

21.0% of Winpak shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.5% of Ball shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ball shares are held 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Winpak	N/A	N/A	N/A
Ball	6.61%	18.76%	5.35%

Summary

Ball beats Winpak on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Winpak

Winpak Ltd. manufactures and distributes packaging materials and related packaging machines in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The company operates is Flexible Packaging, Rigid Packaging and Flexible Lidding, and Packaging Machinery segments. The Flexible Packaging segment provides modified atmosphere packaging products for fresh and processed meats, poultry, cheese, medical device packaging, high-performance pouch, and high-barrier films for converting applications; specialty films, including barrier and non-barrier films converting applications, such as printing, laminating and bag making, as well as shrink bags; and biaxially oriented nylon films for food packaging and industrial applications. The Rigid Packaging and Flexible Lidding segment offers portion control and single-serve containers, as well as plastic sheet, custom, and retort trays; die-cut, daisy chain, and rollstock formats for food, dairy, beverage, pet food, industrial, and healthcare applications; and specialized printed packaging solutions for the pharmaceutical, healthcare, nutraceutical, cosmetic, and personal care markets. The Packaging Machinery segment provides horizontal fill/seal machines for preformed containers and vertical form/fill/seal pouch machines for pumpable liquid and semi-liquid, as well as various dry products. The company was incorporated in 1975 and is based in Winnipeg, Canada. Winpak Ltd. is a subsidiary of Wihuri International Oy.

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.