Contrasting Ranpak (NYSE:PACK) and Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY)

Avery Dennison (NYSE:AVY) and Ranpak (NYSE:PACK) are both materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Volatility and Risk

Avery Dennison has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ranpak has a beta of 3.11, suggesting that its stock price is 211% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Avery Dennison and Ranpak”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avery Dennison	$9.36 billion	1.47	$688.00 million	$9.24	19.72
Ranpak	$395.00 million	0.69	-$38.30 million	($0.40)	-7.94

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Avery Dennison and Ranpak, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avery Dennison	0	3	6	0	2.67
Ranpak	1	1	2	0	2.25

Avery Dennison currently has a consensus target price of $200.10, indicating a potential upside of 9.83%. Ranpak has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 10.24%. Given Ranpak’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ranpak is more favorable than Avery Dennison.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

94.2% of Avery Dennison shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.9% of Ranpak shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Avery Dennison shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 8.8% of Ranpak shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Avery Dennison and Ranpak’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avery Dennison	7.56%	33.88%	8.67%
Ranpak	-8.28%	-6.61%	-3.14%

Summary

Avery Dennison beats Ranpak on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Avery Dennison

Avery Dennison Corporation operates as a materials science and digital identification solutions company in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin, America, and internationally. It provides pressure-sensitive materials comprising papers, plastic films, metal foils, and fabrics; performance tapes products, including tapes for wire harnessing, as well as cable wrapping for automotive, electrical, and general industrial applications; mechanical fasteners, which are precision-extruded and injection-molded plastic devices used in various automotive, general industrial, and retail applications; and other pressure-sensitive adhesive-based materials and converted products under the Fasson, JAC, Yongle, and Avery Dennison brands. The company also offers graphics and reflective products for the architectural, commercial sign, digital printing, and other related market segments; durable cast and reflective films to the construction, automotive, and fleet transportation market segments; reflective films for traffic and safety applications; and pressure-sensitive vinyl and specialty materials designed for digital imaging, screen printing, and sign cutting applications under the Avery Dennison and Mactac brand names. In addition, it provides branding solutions include brand embellishments, graphic tickets, tags, and labels, and sustainable packaging; and information solutions include item-level RFID, visibility and loss prevention, price ticketing and marking, productivity and media solutions, and brand protection and security solutions, as well as care, content, and country of origin compliance solutions. It serves home and personal care, apparel, e-commerce, logistics, food and grocery, pharmaceuticals, and automotive industries. The company was formerly known as Avery International Corporation and changed its name to Avery Dennison Corporation in 1990. Avery Dennison Corporation was founded in 1935 and is headquartered in Mentor, Ohio.

About Ranpak

Ranpak Holdings Corp., together with its subsidiaries, provides product protection solutions and end-of-line automation solutions for e-commerce and industrial supply chains in North America, Europe, and Asia. The company offers protective packaging solutions, such as void-fill protective systems that convert paper to fill empty spaces in secondary packages and protect objects under the FillPak brand; cushioning protective systems, which convert paper into cushioning pads under the PadPak brand; and wrapping protective systems that create pads or paper mesh to wrap and protect fragile items, as well as to line boxes and provide separation when shipping various objects under the WrapPak, Geami, and ReadyRoll brands, as well as cold chain products, which are used to provide insulation for goods. It also offers end-of-line packaging automation products, which help end users automate the void filling and box closure processes after product packing is complete. The company sells its products to end users primarily through a distributor network, and directly to select end-users. Ranpak Holdings Corp. was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Concord Township, Ohio.