International Paper (IP) Competitors

International Paper (NYSE:IP) and Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking, valuation, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, IP or CLW?

International Paper has higher revenue and earnings than Clearwater Paper. Clearwater Paper is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than International Paper, 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
International Paper	$18.62B	1.25	$557M	$1.57	28.14
Clearwater Paper	$1.38B	0.31	$196.30M	$10.33	2.55

Do analysts prefer IP or CLW?

International Paper presently has a consensus target price of $54.77, indicating a potential upside of 23.96%. Clearwater Paper has a consensus target price of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.47%. Given Clearwater Paper's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Clearwater Paper is more favorable than International Paper.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
International Paper	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Clearwater Paper	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is IP or CLW more profitable?

Clearwater Paper has a net margin of 10.54% compared to International Paper's net margin of 2.99%. International Paper's return on equity of 4.75% beat Clearwater Paper's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
International Paper	2.99%	4.75%	1.74%
Clearwater Paper	10.54%	-1.87%	-0.64%

Does the media favor IP or CLW?

In the previous week, International Paper had 24 more articles in the media than Clearwater Paper. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for International Paper and 15 mentions for Clearwater Paper. International Paper's average media sentiment score of 0.68 beat Clearwater Paper's score of 0.09 indicating that International Paper is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
International Paper	18 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Clearwater Paper	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	4 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer IP or CLW?

International Paper received 320 more outperform votes than Clearwater Paper when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.31% of users gave International Paper an outperform vote while only 61.72% of users gave Clearwater Paper an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
International Paper	Outperform Votes 728 64.31%	Underperform Votes 404 35.69%
Clearwater Paper	Outperform Votes 408 61.72%	Underperform Votes 253 38.28%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in IP or CLW?

81.9% of International Paper shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of Clearwater Paper shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of International Paper shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.6% of Clearwater Paper shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has more volatility and risk, IP or CLW?

International Paper has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Clearwater Paper has a beta of 0.22, suggesting that its stock price is 78% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

International Paper beats Clearwater Paper on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.