Reviewing Greif (NYSE:GEF) and Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW)

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

Risk & Volatility

Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greif has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smurfit Westrock and Greif”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smurfit Westrock	$31.18 billion	0.76	$699.00 million	$0.94	48.30
Greif	$5.43 billion	0.73	$268.80 million	$3.19	26.89

Smurfit Westrock has higher revenue and earnings than Greif. Greif 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

Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Greif pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. 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. Greif pays out 77.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Greif has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.7% of Greif shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Greif shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Smurfit Westrock and Greif, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smurfit Westrock	0	2	11	0	2.85
Greif	1	3	1	0	2.00

Smurfit Westrock presently has a consensus price target of $57.69, indicating a potential upside of 27.08%. Greif has a consensus price target of $83.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.26%. Given Smurfit Westrock’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Smurfit Westrock is more favorable than Greif.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smurfit Westrock	1.59%	4.60%	1.85%
Greif	7.53%	8.09%	3.86%

Summary

Smurfit Westrock beats Greif on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Greif

Greif, Inc. engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment produces and sells containerboards, corrugated sheets and containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets; and produces and sells coated and uncoated recycled paperboard, and recycled fiber. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use properties. As of October 31, 2023, this segment owned approximately 175,000 acres of timber properties in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Delaware, Ohio.