CLW vs MERC vs WFG Stock Comparison

Clearwater Paper, Mercer International and West Fraser Timber Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$12.95 -33.2% 1M -26.7% 1Y
Market cap
$213.40M
P/E
88.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.51B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

West Fraser Timber leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (West Fraser Timber 4, Clearwater Paper 4, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLWMERCWFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $213.40M $7.87M $5.23B WFG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 88.9x 0.0x -4.8x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -3.2% -4.8% -7.1% CLW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.2% -27.9% -20.4% CLW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.3% -23.1% -18.0% CLW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -6.8x 2.1x MERC
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 1.28% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -26.7% -94.8% +9.9% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -20.9%/yr -59.3%/yr -3.1%/yr WFG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 62.4% 97.8% 33.2% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 47/100 14/100 35/100 CLW

Percentile Scorecard

CLWMERCWFG

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

AxisCLWMERCWFG
Valuation 100 #1 of 17 18 #236 of 289 46 #157 of 289
Growth 33 #11 of 16 1 #266 of 268 9 #244 of 268
Profitability 36 #10 of 15 28 #171 of 237 20 #189 of 237
Financial Health 43 #9 of 15 10 #260 of 288 38 #180 of 288
Shareholder Returns 23 #11 of 14 14 #177 of 206 60 #83 of 206
Overall 47 14 35
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLWMERCWFGSPY
1 month -33.2%-62.5%-3.6% +0.7%
3 months -38.6%-79.7%+7.1% +3.7%
6 months -5.5%-89.3%+7.8% +7.1%
Year to date -25.6%-93.9%+11.6% +12.8%
1 year -26.7%-94.8%+9.9% +11.9%
3 years -63.0%-98.5%+1.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year -28.2%-75.3%+0.5% +22.8%
5 years -69.0%-98.9%-14.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year -20.9%-59.3%-3.1% +10.9%
10 years -76.0%-98.5%+98.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year -13.3%-34.2%+7.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCLWMERCWFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 62.4%97.8%33.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 69.0%115.3%31.7% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.801.850.63 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.43-0.970.30 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-99.3%-43.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -44.4%-95.7%-11.0% -1.2%
52-week high $23.30$2.79$76.69 $779.14
52-week low $12.44$0.12$57.91 $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.

MultipleCLWMERCWFG
P/E now vs peer median 87.1xmedian 19.7x 0.0xmedian 17.6x -5.0xmedian 17.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.7x 0.0xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 10.1x -6.8xmedian 9.8x 32.7xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.7xmedian 15.9x -0.1xmedian 15.6x -11.4xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.5x -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -1.26median 0.80 0.00median 0.78 -1.67median 0.78

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 monthsCLWMERCWFG
Revenue $1.51B $1.86B $5.30B
Gross profit $27.10M $52.72M $1.30B
Operating income -$24.30M -$437.94M -$1.31B
Net income $2.40M -$517.45M -$1.08B
Free cash flow $56.80M -$154.18M -$472.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.15 $-7.72 $-13.64
Cash & equivalents $35.70M $78.78M $203.00M
Total debt $567.40M $1.95B $578.00M
Shares (diluted) 16.13M 67.04M 79.16M
Enterprise value $15.10M -$440.35M $4.67B

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
MetricCLWMERCWFG
P/E 87.1x 0.0x -5.0x
P/FCF 3.7x -0.1x -11.4x
P/Operating cash flow 2.0x -0.1x –
P/S 0.1x 0.0x 1.0x
P/B 0.3x -0.1x 1.0x
P/Tangible book 0.3x -0.1x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x -6.8x 32.7x
EV/EBIT -30.5x -4.3x -4.4x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.0x 1.1x
EV/FCF 13.0x -12.2x -12.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.0x -22.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.26 0.00 -1.67

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLWMERCWFG
Revenue growth (1Y) -3.2% -4.8% -7.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 43.6% -5.0% -9.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -76.0% -81.9% -10.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 28.2% -45.3% -14.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 62.7% -5,891% -307.2%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.2% -163.0% -108.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -98.3% -373.6% -465.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -69.5% -130.8% -116.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -98.3% -372.7% -327.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.0% -130.0% 3.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 478.1% -270.4% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.6% -41.4% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 142.2% -261.2% 13.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.9% -0.7% 0.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLWMERCWFG
Gross margin 1.8% 2.8% 24.6%
EBITDA margin 4.6% -14.9% 3.3%
Operating margin -1.6% -23.6% -24.7%
Pretax margin -3.2% -29.7% -25.6%
Net margin 0.2% -27.9% -20.4%
FCF margin 3.8% -8.3% -8.9%
Operating cash flow margin 7.0% -4.6% –
Return on equity 0.3% – -20.3%
Return on assets 0.1% -27.0% –
Return on invested capital -1.3% -23.1% -18.0%
Return on capital employed -2.1% -33.3% –
Asset turnover 0.9x 1.0x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 43.8x 0.2x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.0% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLWMERCWFG
Debt / assets 31.9% 104.3% –
Debt / equity 0.7x -19.9x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x -6.8x 2.1x
Debt / FCF 10.0x -12.7x -1.2x
Liabilities / assets 55.3% 105.2% –
Equity / assets 44.7% -5.2% –
Interest coverage – -3.7x -42.2x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.3x –
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.6x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 1.74 0.04 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLWMERCWFG
Dividend yield – 0.0% 1.9%
Net buyback yield 0.0% – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 0.0% 1.9%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -1.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – -6.5% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -60.0% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -26.1% –

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.

ConsensusCLWMERCWFG
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.74FY2026 $-3.79FY2026 $-4.07FY2026
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.55BFY2026 $2.02BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.5%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.7% +10.5% +9.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLWMERCWFG
Held by institutions 88.7% 63.8% 49.7%
Institutions holding 134 67 166
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.9% -11.3% +3.1%
Institutions buying 85 27 79
Institutions selling 33 19 55
Buyers to sellers 2.58 1.42 1.44

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.

CLWMERCWFG
CLW 1.00 0.09 0.32
MERC 0.09 1.00 0.19
WFG 0.32 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLW, MERC and WFG?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clearwater Paper (CLW) $213.40M, Mercer International (MERC) $7.87M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.23B.

Which company is growing faster?

Clearwater Paper (CLW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -7.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Clearwater Paper (CLW) has the highest net margin (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -20.4%). On return on invested capital, Clearwater Paper (CLW) leads (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.3%, Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -18.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year West Fraser Timber (WFG) returned the most: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -26.7%, Mercer International (MERC) -94.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +9.9%. Over five years, West Fraser Timber (WFG) compounded fastest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -20.9%/yr, Mercer International (MERC) -59.3%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.00%, Mercer International (MERC) 1.28%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%. Clearwater Paper (CLW) and West Fraser Timber (WFG) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, West Fraser Timber (WFG) has been the steadiest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 62.4%, Mercer International (MERC) 97.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLW, MERC and WFG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, West Fraser Timber (WFG) leads on 4. 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.