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Investors looking for stocks in the Containers - Paper and Packaging sector might want to consider either Sonoco (SON) or Graphic Packaging (GPK). But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.
Everyone has their own methods for finding great value opportunities, but our model includes pairing an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system with a strong Zacks Rank. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.
Sonoco and Graphic Packaging are sporting Zacks Ranks of #1 (Strong Buy) and #5 (Strong Sell), respectively, right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that SON is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one factor that value investors are interested in.
Value investors analyze a variety of traditional, tried-and-true metrics to help find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.
The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.
SON currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.49, while GPK has a forward P/E of 10.68. We also note that SON has a PEG ratio of 0.75. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. GPK currently has a PEG ratio of 2.05.
Another notable valuation metric for SON is its P/B ratio of 1.85. The P/B ratio is used to compare a stock's market value with its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. For comparison, GPK has a P/B of 2.63.
These are just a few of the metrics contributing to SON's Value grade of A and GPK's Value grade of C.
SON sticks out from GPK in both our Zacks Rank and Style Scores models, so value investors will likely feel that SON is the better option right now.
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Sonoco Products Company (SON) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Graphic Packaging Holding Company (GPK) : Free Stock Analysis Report