BALL vs SLGN vs SON Stock Comparison

Ball, Silgan Holdings and Sonoco Products Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
BALL BALL Corp
$64.75 +10.1% 1M +30.3% 1Y
Market cap
$17.12B
P/E
18.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$14.33B
Div. yield
0.01%
Metal Packaging Basic Materials
3 wins
SLGN Silgan Holdings Inc
$39.31 +5.8% 1M -11.9% 1Y
Market cap
$4.13B
P/E
15.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$6.68B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Packaging Basic Materials
1 win
SON Sonoco Products Co
$50.12 -1.0% 1M +21.0% 1Y
Market cap
$4.92B
P/E
7.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$7.46B
Div. yield
0.04%
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
8 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Sonoco Products leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Sonoco Products 8, Ball 3, Silgan Holdings 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionBALLSLGNSONLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $17.12B $4.13B $4.92B BALL
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 18.1x 15.3x 7.8x SON
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 16.8x 9.8x 9.3x SON
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +15.6% +8.4% +17.7% SON
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 6.6% 4.0% 8.4% SON
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 9.6% 5.5% 10.0% SON
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 4.9x 2.7x SON
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.01% 0.02% 0.04% SON
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +30.3% -11.9% +21.0% BALL
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -6.8%/yr -0.3%/yr -3.4%/yr SLGN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.2% 34.9% 33.8% BALL
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 59/100 54/100 68/100 SON

Percentile Scorecard

BALLSLGNSON

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisBALLSLGNSON
Valuation 27 #12 of 16 73 #5 of 16 80 #4 of 16
Growth 93 #2 of 16 53 #8 of 16 87 #3 of 16
Profitability 80 #4 of 16 73 #5 of 16 87 #3 of 16
Financial Health 56 #8 of 17 25 #13 of 17 31 #12 of 17
Shareholder Returns 39 #9 of 14 46 #8 of 14 54 #7 of 14
Overall 59 54 68
  • BALL ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SLGN ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SON ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodBALLSLGNSONSPY
1 month +10.1%+5.8%-1.0% -1.0%
3 months +1.4%-15.4%-13.9% +2.9%
6 months +5.6%+0.7%+3.4% +6.4%
Year to date +22.2%-2.6%+14.8% +11.4%
1 year +30.3%-11.9%+21.0% +13.1%
3 years +40.9%-4.6%-0.9% +79.4%
3 years, per year +12.1%-1.6%-0.3% +21.5%
5 years -29.8%-1.7%-15.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year -6.8%-0.3%-3.4% +10.9%
10 years +62.5%+54.0%-1.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year +5.0%+4.4%-0.2% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureBALLSLGNSONSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.2%34.9%33.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 24.5%38.7%36.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.160.550.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.16-0.340.62 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -55.9%-39.6%-41.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.4%-19.6%-17.2% -2.5%
52-week high $67.76$48.89$60.55 $779.14
52-week low $46.41$34.74$39.27 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleBALLSLGNSON
P/E now vs peer median 18.2xmedian 18.2x 15.4xmedian 18.2x 7.9xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 0.7x 0.6xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.3xmedian 9.5x 9.5xmedian 9.5x 5.9xmedian 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 20.7xmedian 15.7x 12.1xmedian 15.7x 14.0xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 3.0xmedian 1.4x 1.7xmedian 1.4x 1.4xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 1.50median 0.83 -4.37median 0.83 0.90median 0.83

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsBALLSLGNSON
Revenue $14.33B $6.68B $7.46B
Gross profit $2.67B $1.14B $1.55B
Operating income $1.62B $573.99M $1.04B
Net income $949.00M $270.29M $628.33M
Free cash flow $827.00M $342.76M $354.83M
EPS (diluted) $3.54 $2.55 $6.29
Cash & equivalents $491.00M $351.53M $168.65M
Total debt $29.25B $18.79B $4.45B
Shares (diluted) 267.14M 105.79M 99.78M
Enterprise value $14.12B $1.88B $3.90B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricBALLSLGNSON
P/E 18.2x 15.4x 7.9x
P/FCF 20.7x 12.1x 14.0x
P/Operating cash flow 12.0x 6.5x 7.8x
P/S 1.2x 0.6x 0.7x
P/B 3.0x 1.7x 1.4x
P/Tangible book 3.5x 2.7x 4.7x
EV/EBITDA 11.3x 9.5x 5.9x
EV/EBIT 14.8x 15.0x 8.9x
EV/Revenue 1.7x 1.3x 1.2x
EV/FCF 28.9x 25.2x 26.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 16.7x 13.5x 14.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 1.50 -4.37 0.90

Growth

14 metrics
MetricBALLSLGNSON
Revenue growth (1Y) 15.6% 8.4% 17.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 10.6% 2.1% 15.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 6.8% 3.5% 15.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 38.7% 3.5% 13.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 48.6% 2.7% 124.7%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 7.6% 1.1% 19.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 68.6% -10.5% 13.0%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 5.7% -4.9% 9.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 77.1% -9.3% 12.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.1% -3.5% 8.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 83.5% 86.3% 17.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 10.4% 30.5% -1.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 119.9% 502.4% 148.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 61.0% 67.5% 2.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricBALLSLGNSON
Gross margin 18.6% 17.1% 20.8%
EBITDA margin 14.7% 13.7% 20.9%
Operating margin 11.3% 8.6% 13.9%
Pretax margin 8.1% 5.8% 10.8%
Net margin 6.6% 4.0% 8.4%
FCF margin 5.8% 5.1% 4.8%
Operating cash flow margin 10.0% 9.6% 8.5%
Return on equity 16.7% 11.3% 17.5%
Return on assets 4.8% 2.8% 5.7%
Return on invested capital 9.6% 5.5% 10.0%
Return on capital employed 11.8% 8.4% 12.6%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.5x 2.4x 1.0x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.3% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricBALLSLGNSON
Debt / assets 35.9% 50.3% 40.6%
Debt / equity 1.3x 2.0x 1.2x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.2x 4.9x 2.7x
Debt / FCF 8.7x 14.1x 12.6x
Liabilities / assets 71.3% 75.2% 67.2%
Equity / assets 28.7% 24.8% 32.8%
Interest coverage 5.1x 3.1x 5.1x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.3x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.7x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 2.59 1.87 1.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricBALLSLGNSON
Dividend yield 1.2% 2.1% 4.3%
Net buyback yield 2.4% 1.8% 0.1%
Shareholder yield 3.7% 3.9% 4.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) 22.7% 32.4% 33.5%
Payout ratio (FCF) 26.0% 25.5% 59.3%
Dividend growth (1Y) -6.9% 4.2% 2.2%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) -5.2% 4.9% 2.9%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusBALLSLGNSON
Forward P/E 16.8xFY2026 9.8xFY2026 9.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.86FY2026 $4.00FY2026 $5.38FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.1%FY2026 +7.5%FY2026 -5.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +23.1% +7.3% +18.4%
Revenue, next fiscal year $15.73BFY2026 $6.50BFY2026 $7.74BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +19.5%FY2026 +0.3%FY2026 +3.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.0% +4.8% -5.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersBALLSLGNSON
Held by institutions 87.6% 92.5% 97.9%
Institutions holding 801 349 507
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.9% +4.9% +13.2%
Institutions buying 383 190 264
Institutions selling 285 114 160
Buyers to sellers 1.34 1.67 1.65

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

BALLSLGNSON
BALL 1.00 0.62 0.45
SLGN 0.62 1.00 0.53
SON 0.45 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, BALL, SLGN and SON?

Ball (BALL) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ball (BALL) $17.12B, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) $4.13B, Sonoco Products (SON) $4.92B.

Which stock is cheaper, BALL, SLGN and SON?

Sonoco Products (SON) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ball (BALL) 18.1x, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 15.3x, Sonoco Products (SON) 7.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sonoco Products (SON) is cheapest (Ball (BALL) 16.8x, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 9.8x, Sonoco Products (SON) 9.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sonoco Products (SON) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ball (BALL) +15.6%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) +8.4%, Sonoco Products (SON) +17.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sonoco Products (SON) has the highest net margin (Ball (BALL) 6.6%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 4.0%, Sonoco Products (SON) 8.4%). On return on invested capital, Sonoco Products (SON) leads (Ball (BALL) 9.6%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 5.5%, Sonoco Products (SON) 10.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Ball (BALL) returned the most: Ball (BALL) +30.3%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) -11.9%, Sonoco Products (SON) +21.0%. Over five years, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) compounded fastest (Ball (BALL) -6.8%/yr, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) -0.3%/yr, Sonoco Products (SON) -3.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Sonoco Products (SON) has the highest dividend yield: Ball (BALL) 0.01%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 0.02%, Sonoco Products (SON) 0.04%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Ball (BALL) has been the steadiest (Ball (BALL) 26.2%, Silgan Holdings (SLGN) 34.9%, Sonoco Products (SON) 33.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, BALL, SLGN and SON?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sonoco Products (SON) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.