Sonoco Products (SON) Competitors

Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) and Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) are both mid-cap industrial products companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, risk and dividends.

Does the media refer more to GPK or SON?

In the previous week, Graphic Packaging had 2 more articles in the media than Sonoco Products. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Graphic Packaging and 3 mentions for Sonoco Products. Graphic Packaging's average media sentiment score of 0.83 beat Sonoco Products' score of 0.65 indicating that Graphic Packaging is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Graphic Packaging	3 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sonoco Products	2 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is GPK or SON a better dividend stock?

Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Sonoco Products pays an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Graphic Packaging pays out 17.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sonoco Products pays out 71.5% 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, GPK or SON?

Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.85, indicating that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sonoco Products has a beta of 0.68, indicating that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer GPK or SON?

Graphic Packaging currently has a consensus price target of $32.37, suggesting a potential upside of 15.66%. Sonoco Products has a consensus price target of $60.17, suggesting a potential upside of 26.07%. Given Sonoco Products' higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Sonoco Products is more favorable than Graphic Packaging.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Graphic Packaging	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Sonoco Products	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, GPK or SON?

Graphic Packaging has higher revenue and earnings than Sonoco Products. Graphic Packaging is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sonoco Products, 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
Graphic Packaging	$8.96B	0.94	$723M	$2.34	11.96
Sonoco Products	$6.78B	0.69	$474.96M	$2.91	16.40

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GPK or SON?

Sonoco Products received 158 more outperform votes than Graphic Packaging when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 64.24% of users gave Sonoco Products an outperform vote while only 63.93% of users gave Graphic Packaging an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Graphic Packaging	Outperform Votes 514 63.93%	Underperform Votes 290 36.07%
Sonoco Products	Outperform Votes 672 64.24%	Underperform Votes 374 35.76%

Is GPK or SON more profitable?

Graphic Packaging has a net margin of 7.99% compared to Sonoco Products' net margin of 4.38%. Graphic Packaging's return on equity of 28.26% beat Sonoco Products' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Graphic Packaging	7.99%	28.26%	7.27%
Sonoco Products	4.38%	19.92%	6.38%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in GPK or SON?

99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 77.7% of Sonoco Products shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Graphic Packaging shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Sonoco Products shares are held by company 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.

Summary

Graphic Packaging beats Sonoco Products on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.