MERC vs GPK vs WFG Stock Comparison

Mercer International, Graphic Packaging Holding and West Fraser Timber Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

West Fraser Timber leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (West Fraser Timber 5, Graphic Packaging Holding 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionMERCGPKWFGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.43M $2.60B $5.53B WFG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x 13.4x -4.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 13.1x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% +0.0% -10.2% GPK
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% 2.2% -26.2% GPK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% 4.3% — GPK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 5.1x -181.5x WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.19% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -94.4% -50.4% +6.1% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -57.7%/yr -15.8%/yr -3.8%/yr WFG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 96.6% 47.4% 33.6% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 51/100 33/100 GPK

Percentile Scorecard

MERCGPKWFG

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

AxisMERCGPKWFG
Valuation 19 #232 of 287 100 #1 of 16 44 #161 of 287
Growth 1 #265 of 267 0 #16 of 16 5 #253 of 267
Profitability 27 #176 of 240 53 #8 of 16 21 #191 of 240
Financial Health 8 #273 of 295 19 #14 of 17 –
Shareholder Returns 13 #177 of 204 85 #3 of 14 61 #81 of 204
Overall 14 51 33
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • GPK ranked among 17 companies in Packaging
  • 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

PeriodMERCGPKWFGSPY
1 month -56.3%-9.3%-4.5% -1.0%
3 months -79.1%-20.4%+5.4% +2.9%
6 months -87.5%-6.2%+6.6% +6.4%
Year to date -92.9%-41.8%+14.1% +11.4%
1 year -94.4%-50.4%+6.1% +13.1%
3 years -98.4%-56.9%+5.4% +79.4%
3 years, per year -74.7%-24.5%+1.8% +21.5%
5 years -98.6%-57.5%-17.8% +67.7%
5 years, per year -57.7%-15.8%-3.8% +10.9%
10 years -98.2%-35.1%+128.9% +255.2%
10 years, per year -33.1%-4.2%+8.6% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMERCGPKWFGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 96.6%47.4%33.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 113.0%47.9%32.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.910.870.64 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.98-1.060.18 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.2%-73.0%-43.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.0%-50.4%-9.0% -2.5%
52-week high $2.79$17.68$76.69 $779.14
52-week low $0.14$8.24$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.

MultipleMERCGPKWFG
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 17.9x 13.4xmedian 18.2x -4.0xmedian 17.9x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 0.3xmedian 0.7x 1.1xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x 7.5xmedian 9.5x -2,936xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 16.0x 13.7xmedian 15.7x -12.7xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 0.8xmedian 1.4x 1.0xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.73 -0.39median 0.83 0.61median 0.73

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 monthsMERCGPKWFG
Revenue $1.86B $8.64B $5.24B
Gross profit $52.72M $1.34B $1.14B
Operating income -$437.94M $504.00M -$1.49B
Net income -$517.45M $194.00M -$1.20B
Free cash flow -$154.18M $189.00M -$435.00M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $0.65 $-17.33
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $205.00M $74.00M
Total debt $1.95B $5.67B $437.00M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 296.70M 79.16M
Enterprise value -$439.79M $1.82B $4.63B

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
MetricMERCGPKWFG
P/E 0.0x 13.4x -4.0x
P/FCF -0.1x 13.7x -12.7x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x 3.3x –
P/S 0.0x 0.3x 1.1x
P/B -0.1x 0.8x 1.0x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.0x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x 7.5x -2,936x
EV/EBIT -4.3x 16.0x -3.9x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 0.9x 1.1x
EV/FCF -12.2x 42.6x -13.5x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x 10.2x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 -0.39 0.61

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCGPKWFG
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% 0.0% -10.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -3.7% -13.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -26.6% -29.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% -13.6% -27.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -45.9% -867.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -24.2% -52.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% -63.7% -1,620%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% -35.0% -188.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% -63.1% -331.3%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% -34.1% -6.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% 3.1% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% -10.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% 147.8% 17.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% -28.6% 1.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCGPKWFG
Gross margin 2.8% 15.5% 21.8%
EBITDA margin -14.9% 12.4% 0.0%
Operating margin -23.6% 5.8% -28.4%
Pretax margin -29.7% 2.9% -29.3%
Net margin -27.9% 2.2% -26.2%
FCF margin -8.3% 2.2% -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% 9.2% –
Return on equity – 6.0% -24.5%
Return on assets -27.0% 1.7% –
Return on invested capital -23.1% 4.3% –
Return on capital employed -33.3% 5.3% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 0.7x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x 4.1x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% 0.2% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCGPKWFG
Debt / assets 104.3% 48.6% –
Debt / equity -19.9x 1.8x 0.1x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x 5.1x -181.5x
Debt / FCF -12.7x 30.0x -1.0x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% 72.2% –
Equity / assets -5.2% 27.8% –
Interest coverage -3.7x 2.0x –
Current ratio 1.3x 1.4x –
Quick ratio 0.6x 0.5x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x –
Altman Z-score 0.04 1.34 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCGPKWFG
Dividend yield 0.0% 5.0% 1.8%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield 0.0% 5.0% 1.8%
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.

ConsensusMERCGPKWFG
Forward P/E – 13.1xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.78FY2026 $0.67FY2026 $-3.97FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -62.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – +43.3% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.04BFY2026 $8.23BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.1%FY2026 -4.5%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +0.0% +9.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersMERCGPKWFG
Held by institutions 63.8% 100.0% 49.7%
Institutions holding 67 499 166
Change in shares held, QoQ -11.3% +5.3% +3.1%
Institutions buying 27 322 79
Institutions selling 19 130 55
Buyers to sellers 1.42 2.48 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.

MERCGPKWFG
MERC 1.00 0.20 0.20
GPK 0.20 1.00 0.42
WFG 0.20 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, GPK and WFG?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.43M, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) $2.60B, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.53B.

Which company is growing faster?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) +0.0%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 2.2%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%). On return on invested capital, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) leads (Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 4.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year West Fraser Timber (WFG) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -94.4%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -50.4%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +6.1%. Over five years, West Fraser Timber (WFG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -57.7%/yr, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -15.8%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Mercer International (MERC) 1.19%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 0.00%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%. Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 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 (Mercer International (MERC) 96.6%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 47.4%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, MERC, GPK 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 5. 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.