Graphic Packaging (GPK) Competitors

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) and Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Which has more volatility and risk, ATR or GPK?

AptarGroup has a beta of 0.57, suggesting that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is ATR or GPK a better dividend stock?

AptarGroup pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. AptarGroup pays out 31.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Graphic Packaging pays out 24.9% 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. AptarGroup has raised its dividend for 31 consecutive years and Graphic Packaging has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Graphic Packaging is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate ATR or GPK?

AptarGroup presently has a consensus target price of $174.60, indicating a potential upside of 26.28%. Graphic Packaging has a consensus target price of $26.38, indicating a potential upside of 16.27%. Given AptarGroup's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe AptarGroup is more favorable than Graphic Packaging.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AptarGroup	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Graphic Packaging	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.44

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, ATR or GPK?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AptarGroup	$3.58B	2.54	$374.54M	$5.81	23.80
Graphic Packaging	$8.64B	0.78	$658M	$1.77	12.82

Is ATR or GPK more profitable?

AptarGroup has a net margin of 10.84% compared to Graphic Packaging's net margin of 6.18%. Graphic Packaging's return on equity of 21.13% beat AptarGroup's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AptarGroup	10.84%	15.39%	8.60%
Graphic Packaging	6.18%	21.13%	5.74%

Does the media refer more to ATR or GPK?

In the previous week, AptarGroup had 4 more articles in the media than Graphic Packaging. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for AptarGroup and 8 mentions for Graphic Packaging. Graphic Packaging's average media sentiment score of 1.28 beat AptarGroup's score of 0.64 indicating that Graphic Packaging is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AptarGroup	9 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Graphic Packaging	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in ATR or GPK?

88.5% of AptarGroup shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of AptarGroup shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

AptarGroup beats Graphic Packaging on 10 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.