Comparing Crown (NYSE:CCK) & AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR)

AptarGroup (NYSE:ATR) and Crown (NYSE:CCK) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AptarGroup and Crown”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AptarGroup	$3.93 billion	1.92	$392.79 million	$5.53	21.51
Crown	$13.26 billion	0.89	$738.00 million	$6.95	15.61

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.5% of AptarGroup shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.9% of Crown shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of AptarGroup shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Crown shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for AptarGroup and Crown, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AptarGroup	0	4	6	0	2.60
Crown	0	5	12	0	2.71

AptarGroup presently has a consensus target price of $164.14, indicating a potential upside of 37.97%. Crown has a consensus target price of $127.73, indicating a potential upside of 17.73%. Given AptarGroup’s higher probable upside, equities research analysts plainly believe AptarGroup is more favorable than Crown.

Dividends

AptarGroup pays an annual dividend of $1.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Crown pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.3%. AptarGroup pays out 34.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Crown pays out 20.1% 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 Crown has raised its dividend for 4 consecutive years. AptarGroup is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares AptarGroup and Crown’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AptarGroup	9.22%	13.31%	6.96%
Crown	5.91%	27.33%	6.52%

Risk & Volatility

AptarGroup has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Crown has a beta of 0.56, suggesting that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Crown beats AptarGroup on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AptarGroup

AptarGroup, Inc. designs and manufactures a range of drug delivery, consumer product dispensing, and active material science solutions and services for the pharmaceutical, beauty, personal care, home care, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through Aptar Pharma, Aptar Beauty, and Aptar Closures segments. It also provides pumps for nasal allergy treatments; and metered dose inhaler valves for respiratory ailments, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; elastomer for injectable primary packaging components; and active material science solutions. In addition, the company offers dispensing pumps, closures, elastomeric components, and aerosol valves to the digital health solutions. It primarily sells its products and services in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. AptarGroup, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois.

About Crown

Crown Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the packaging business in the United States and internationally. It operates through Americas Beverage, European Beverage, Asia Pacific, and Transit Packaging segments. The company manufactures and sells recyclable aluminum beverage cans and ends, glass bottles, steel crowns, aluminum caps, non-beverage cans, and aerosol cans and closures. It also provides manual, semi-automatic, and automatic equipment and tools to apply and remove consumables, such as straps and films; protective solutions, including airbags, edge protectors, and honeycomb products; and steel and plastic consumables include steel strap, plastic strap, industrial film, and other related products. The company serves food industries, including pet food, personal care, household, and industrial products. Crown Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Yardley, Pennsylvania.