Smurfit Westrock (SW) Competitors

Ball (NYSE:BALL) and Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) are both large-cap shipping containers companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in BALL or SW?

86.5% of Ball shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Smurfit Westrock shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Ball shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Smurfit Westrock shares are owned by company 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, BALL or SW?

Ball has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Smurfit Westrock has a beta of 1.02, meaning that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to BALL or SW?

In the previous week, Ball had 44 more articles in the media than Smurfit Westrock. MarketBeat recorded 56 mentions for Ball and 12 mentions for Smurfit Westrock. Smurfit Westrock's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Ball's score of 0.50 indicating that Smurfit Westrock is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Ball	18 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	17 Neutral mention(s)	9 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Smurfit Westrock	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is BALL or SW a better dividend stock?

Ball pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Smurfit Westrock pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ball pays out 47.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Smurfit Westrock pays out 141.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, BALL or SW?

Ball has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Smurfit Westrock. Ball is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smurfit Westrock, 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
Ball	$12.02B	1.35	$4.01B	$1.68	34.89
Smurfit Westrock	$21.11B	1.19	$319M	$1.22	39.36

Is BALL or SW more profitable?

Ball has a net margin of 4.18% compared to Smurfit Westrock's net margin of 1.98%. Ball's return on equity of 15.41% beat Smurfit Westrock's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ball	4.18%	15.41%	5.29%
Smurfit Westrock	1.98%	7.38%	2.95%

Do analysts prefer BALL or SW?

Ball presently has a consensus price target of $61.40, indicating a potential upside of 4.76%. Smurfit Westrock has a consensus price target of $58.40, indicating a potential upside of 21.63%. Given Smurfit Westrock's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Smurfit Westrock is more favorable than Ball.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ball	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64
Smurfit Westrock	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.90

Summary

Ball beats Smurfit Westrock on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.