Contrasting IT Tech Packaging (NYSE:ITP) and Western Forest Products (OTCMKTS:WFSTF)

Western Forest Products (OTCMKTS:WFSTF) and IT Tech Packaging (NYSE:ITP) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

75.3% of Western Forest Products shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of IT Tech Packaging shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of IT Tech Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Western Forest Products and IT Tech Packaging, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Western Forest Products	0	4	0	0	2.00
IT Tech Packaging	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Western Forest Products and IT Tech Packaging”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Western Forest Products	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.26	51.32
IT Tech Packaging	$78.94 million	0.04	-$9.95 million	($1.02)	-0.17

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

Profitability

This table compares Western Forest Products and IT Tech Packaging’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Western Forest Products	N/A	N/A	N/A
IT Tech Packaging	-12.35%	-5.92%	-5.09%

Summary

Western Forest Products beats IT Tech Packaging on 7 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Western Forest Products

Western Forest Products Inc. operates as an integrated softwoods forest products company in Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Europe, and internationally. It is involved in timber harvesting, sawmilling logs into specialty lumber, value-added lumber and glulam remanufacturing, and wholesaling purchased lumber. The company also provides door and window; outdoor structure; and fencing products. Its products have applications in outdoor living, exterior appearance, interior living, industrial, and structural applications. Western Forest Products Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About IT Tech Packaging

IT Tech Packaging, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the production and distribution of paper products in the People's Republic of China. The company operates through three segments: Dongfang Paper, Tengsheng Paper, and Baoding Shengde. It offers corrugating medium papers to companies making corrugating cardboards; and offset printing papers to printing companies. The company also provides tissue paper products, including toilet papers, boxed and soft-packed tissues, handkerchief tissues, and paper napkins, as well as bathroom and kitchen paper towels under the Dongfang Paper brand. In addition, it produces and sells non-medical single-use face masks, and medical face masks. The company was formerly known as Orient Paper, Inc. and changed its name to IT Tech Packaging, Inc. in August 2018. The company is headquartered in Baoding, the People's' Republic of China.