CLW vs SW vs GPK Stock Comparison

Clearwater Paper, Smurfit Westrock and Graphic Packaging Holding Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$13.64 -33.1% 1M -29.7% 1Y
Market cap
$220.17M
P/E
91.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.51B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$42.59 -8.3% 1M -1.9% 1Y
Market cap
$22.34B
P/E
44.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
4.18%
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Smurfit Westrock leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Smurfit Westrock 7, Graphic Packaging Holding 5). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCLWSWGPKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $220.17M $22.34B $2.57B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 91.7x 44.9x 13.3x GPK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 18.8x 13.4x GPK
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -3.2% +1.7% +0.0% SW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 0.2% 1.6% 2.2% GPK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -1.3% 3.1% 4.3% GPK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 3.2x 5.1x SW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 4.18% 5.06% GPK
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -29.7% -1.9% -50.0% SW
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -20.3%/yr -3.8%/yr -15.6%/yr SW
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 62.8% 44.1% 47.3% SW
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 53/100 62/100 52/100 SW

Percentile Scorecard

CLWSWGPK

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

AxisCLWSWGPK
Valuation 100 #1 of 16 67 #6 of 16 93 #2 of 16
Growth 40 #10 of 16 73 #5 of 16 7 #15 of 16
Profitability 36 #10 of 15 50 #8 of 15 71 #5 of 15
Financial Health 54 #7 of 14 77 #4 of 14 15 #12 of 14
Shareholder Returns 33 #9 of 13 42 #8 of 13 75 #4 of 13
Overall 53 62 52
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • SW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • GPK ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodCLWSWGPKSPY
1 month -33.1%-8.3%-7.4% -0.2%
3 months -22.1%-16.2%-25.4% +3.9%
6 months -8.1%+5.0%-10.6% +8.2%
Year to date -21.6%+10.1%-42.3% +12.9%
1 year -29.7%-1.9%-50.0% +12.3%
3 years -60.5%+37.0%-58.5% +87.4%
3 years, per year -26.6%+11.1%-25.4% +23.3%
5 years -67.7%-17.7%-57.1% +67.9%
5 years, per year -20.3%-3.8%-15.6% +10.9%
10 years -74.6%+94.4%-31.0% +261.1%
10 years, per year -12.8%+6.9%-3.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCLWSWGPKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 62.8%44.1%47.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 69.8%40.4%47.8% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.811.460.88 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.47-0.04-1.06 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -77.8%-55.1%-73.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -41.5%-17.8%-50.0% -1.2%
52-week high $23.30$51.84$17.37 $779.14
52-week low $12.44$32.79$8.24 $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.

MultipleCLWSWGPK
P/E now vs peer median 91.7xmedian 19.3x 44.9xmedian 19.3x 13.3xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.1xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.8xmedian 9.4x 8.5xmedian 9.4x 7.5xmedian 9.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 3.9xmedian 15.6x 22.0xmedian 15.6x 13.6xmedian 15.6x
P/B now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 0.8xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median -1.33median 0.82 —median 0.82 -0.39median 0.82

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 monthsCLWSWGPK
Revenue $1.51B $31.33B $8.64B
Gross profit $27.10M $5.62B $1.34B
Operating income -$24.30M $1.48B $504.00M
Net income $2.40M $497.00M $194.00M
Free cash flow $56.80M $1.02B $189.00M
EPS (diluted) $0.15 $0.94 $0.65
Cash & equivalents $35.70M $677.00M $205.00M
Total debt $567.40M $14.16B $5.67B
Shares (diluted) 16.13M 526.00M 296.70M
Enterprise value $21.87M $19.27B $1.80B

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
MetricCLWSWGPK
P/E 91.7x 44.9x 13.3x
P/FCF 3.9x 22.0x 13.6x
P/Operating cash flow 2.1x 6.8x 3.2x
P/S 0.1x 0.7x 0.3x
P/B 0.3x 1.2x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 0.3x 1.3x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA 10.8x 8.5x 7.5x
EV/EBIT -30.9x 24.3x 15.9x
EV/Revenue 0.5x 1.1x 0.9x
EV/FCF 13.2x 35.3x 42.5x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.2x 10.9x 10.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -1.33 – -0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCLWSWGPK
Revenue growth (1Y) -3.2% 1.7% 0.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 43.6% – -3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -76.0% -4.5% -26.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 28.2% – -13.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) 62.7% 17.2% -45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -31.2% – -24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -98.3% 41.2% -63.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -69.5% – -35.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -98.3% 40.1% -63.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -69.0% – -34.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 478.1% 52.3% 3.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -9.6% – -10.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 142.2% 1,094% 147.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -10.9% – -28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCLWSWGPK
Gross margin 1.8% 17.9% 15.5%
EBITDA margin 4.6% 13.5% 12.4%
Operating margin -1.6% 4.7% 5.8%
Pretax margin -3.2% 2.3% 2.9%
Net margin 0.2% 1.6% 2.2%
FCF margin 3.8% 3.2% 2.2%
Operating cash flow margin 7.0% 10.5% 9.2%
Return on equity 0.3% 2.7% 6.0%
Return on assets 0.1% 1.1% 1.7%
Return on invested capital -1.3% 3.1% 4.3%
Return on capital employed -2.1% 3.9% 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.9x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 43.8x 6.6x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCLWSWGPK
Debt / assets 31.9% 31.3% 48.6%
Debt / equity 0.7x 0.8x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 7.6x 3.2x 5.1x
Debt / FCF 10.0x 14.0x 30.0x
Liabilities / assets 55.3% 60.0% 72.2%
Equity / assets 44.7% 40.0% 27.8%
Interest coverage – – 2.0x
Current ratio 1.5x 1.4x 1.4x
Quick ratio 0.4x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score 1.75 1.45 1.34

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCLWSWGPK
Dividend yield – 4.2% 5.1%
Net buyback yield 0.0% -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 4.1% 5.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

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.

ConsensusCLWSWGPK
Forward P/E – 18.8xFY2026 13.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.74FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $0.65FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +10.7%FY2026 -63.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +67.4% +44.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.55BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026 $8.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.5%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026 -4.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +6.7% +9.3% +0.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCLWSWGPK
Held by institutions 88.7% – 100.0%
Institutions holding 134 – 499
Change in shares held, QoQ +9.9% – +5.3%
Institutions buying 85 – 322
Institutions selling 33 – 130
Buyers to sellers 2.58 – 2.48

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.

CLWSWGPK
CLW 1.00 0.33 0.39
SW 0.33 1.00 0.52
GPK 0.39 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CLW, SW and GPK?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Clearwater Paper (CLW) $220.17M, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.34B, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) $2.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, CLW, SW and GPK?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 91.7x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.9x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) is cheapest (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 18.8x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) +1.7%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) +0.0%.

Which company is more profitable?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) has the highest net margin (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.2%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 2.2%). On return on invested capital, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) leads (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.3%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 4.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Smurfit Westrock (SW) returned the most: Clearwater Paper (CLW) -29.7%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -1.9%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -50.0%. Over five years, Smurfit Westrock (SW) compounded fastest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) -20.3%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -3.8%/yr, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -15.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) has the highest dividend yield: Smurfit Westrock (SW) 4.18%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 5.06%. Clearwater Paper (CLW) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Smurfit Westrock (SW) has been the steadiest (Clearwater Paper (CLW) 62.8%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 47.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CLW, SW and GPK?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Smurfit Westrock (SW) leads on 7. 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.