MERC vs WFG vs CLW Stock Comparison

Mercer International, West Fraser Timber and Clearwater Paper Prices as of Oct 23, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CLW Clearwater Paper Corp
$19.32 -9.5% 1M -3.2% 1Y
Market cap
$308.01M
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.52B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
4 wins

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

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

QuestionMERCWFGCLWLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $8.43M $5.53B $308.01M WFG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 0.0x -4.0x -6.2x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -4.8% -10.2% -1.9% CLW
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -27.9% -26.2% -3.2% CLW
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital -23.1% — -5.7% CLW
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA -6.8x -181.5x 20.6x WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 1.19% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -94.4% +6.1% -3.2% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -57.7%/yr -3.8%/yr -14.9%/yr WFG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 96.6% 33.6% 52.7% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 14/100 33/100 57/100 CLW

Percentile Scorecard

MERCWFGCLW

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

AxisMERCWFGCLW
Valuation 19 #232 of 287 44 #161 of 287 93 #2 of 16
Growth 1 #265 of 267 5 #253 of 267 47 #9 of 16
Profitability 27 #176 of 240 21 #191 of 240 33 #11 of 16
Financial Health 8 #273 of 295 – 81 #4 of 17
Shareholder Returns 13 #177 of 204 61 #81 of 204 31 #10 of 14
Overall 14 33 57
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • CLW ranked among 17 companies in Packaging

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodMERCWFGCLWSPY
1 month -56.3%-4.5%-9.5% -1.0%
3 months -79.1%+5.4%+14.8% +2.9%
6 months -87.5%+6.6%+32.1% +6.4%
Year to date -92.9%+14.1%+11.0% +11.4%
1 year -94.4%+6.1%-3.2% +13.1%
3 years -98.4%+5.4%-43.3% +79.4%
3 years, per year -74.7%+1.8%-17.2% +21.5%
5 years -98.6%-17.8%-55.5% +67.7%
5 years, per year -57.7%-3.8%-14.9% +10.9%
10 years -98.2%+128.9%-65.5% +255.2%
10 years, per year -33.1%+8.6%-10.1% +13.5%

Risk

MeasureMERCWFGCLWSPY
Volatility, 1Y 96.6%33.6%52.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 113.0%32.5%50.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.910.640.90 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.980.18-0.06 1.03
Max drawdown, 5Y -99.2%-43.2%-77.8% -25.4%
From 52-week high -95.0%-9.0%-17.1% -2.5%
52-week high $2.79$76.69$23.30 $779.14
52-week low $0.14$57.91$12.44 $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.

MultipleMERCWFGCLW
P/E now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 17.9x -4.0xmedian 17.9x -6.3xmedian 18.2x
P/S now vs peer median 0.0xmedian 1.8x 1.1xmedian 1.8x 0.2xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median -6.8xmedian 9.8x -2,936xmedian 9.8x 44.8xmedian 9.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 16.0x -12.7xmedian 16.0x 5.5xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median -0.1xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 0.4xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.00median 0.73 0.61median 0.73 0.16median 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 monthsMERCWFGCLW
Revenue $1.86B $5.24B $1.52B
Gross profit $52.72M $1.14B $24.60M
Operating income -$437.94M -$1.49B -$82.20M
Net income -$517.45M -$1.20B -$49.30M
Free cash flow -$154.18M -$435.00M $56.60M
EPS (diluted) $-7.72 $-17.33 $-3.06
Cash & equivalents $78.78M $74.00M $95.40M
Total debt $1.95B $437.00M $361.10M
Shares (diluted) 67.04M 79.16M 16.13M
Enterprise value -$439.79M $4.63B $111.01M

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
MetricMERCWFGCLW
P/E 0.0x -4.0x -6.3x
P/FCF -0.1x -12.7x 5.5x
P/Operating cash flow -0.1x – 2.9x
P/S 0.0x 1.1x 0.2x
P/B -0.1x 1.0x 0.4x
P/Tangible book -0.1x 1.0x 0.4x
EV/EBITDA -6.8x -2,936x 44.8x
EV/EBIT -4.3x -3.9x -7.0x
EV/Revenue 1.0x 1.1x 0.4x
EV/FCF -12.2x -13.5x 10.2x
EV/Operating cash flow -22.2x – 5.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.00 0.61 0.16

Growth

14 metrics
MetricMERCWFGCLW
Revenue growth (1Y) -4.8% -10.2% -1.9%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -5.0% -13.9% 25.5%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -81.9% -29.4% -80.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -45.3% -27.6% 28.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -5,891% -867.5% -647.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -163.0% -52.1% -38.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -373.6% -1,620% -124.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -130.8% -188.8% -39.6%
EPS growth (1Y) -372.7% -331.3% -124.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -130.0% -6.5% -40.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -270.4% – 337.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -41.4% – 17.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -261.2% 17.8% 131.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -0.7% 1.3% 63.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricMERCWFGCLW
Gross margin 2.8% 21.8% 1.6%
EBITDA margin -14.9% 0.0% 0.8%
Operating margin -23.6% -28.4% -5.4%
Pretax margin -29.7% -29.3% -6.9%
Net margin -27.9% -26.2% -3.2%
FCF margin -8.3% -8.3% 3.7%
Operating cash flow margin -4.6% – 7.1%
Return on equity – -24.5% -6.1%
Return on assets -27.0% – -3.1%
Return on invested capital -23.1% – -5.7%
Return on capital employed -33.3% – -6.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x – 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.2x – -2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.0% – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricMERCWFGCLW
Debt / assets 104.3% – 23.0%
Debt / equity -19.9x 0.1x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA -6.8x -181.5x 20.6x
Debt / FCF -12.7x -1.0x 6.4x
Liabilities / assets 105.2% – 49.5%
Equity / assets -5.2% – 50.5%
Interest coverage -3.7x – –
Current ratio 1.3x – 2.3x
Quick ratio 0.6x – 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x – 0.4x
Altman Z-score 0.04 – 2.00

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricMERCWFGCLW
Dividend yield 0.0% 1.8% –
Net buyback yield – – 0.7%
Shareholder yield 0.0% 1.8% 0.7%
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.

ConsensusMERCWFGCLW
EPS, next fiscal year $-3.78FY2026 $-3.97FY2026 $-3.47FY2026
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.04BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026 $1.56BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +9.1%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026 +0.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +12.0% +9.9% +6.0%

Institutional Ownership

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

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.

MERCWFGCLW
MERC 1.00 0.20 0.17
WFG 0.20 1.00 0.38
CLW 0.17 0.38 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, MERC, WFG and CLW?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Mercer International (MERC) $8.43M, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.53B, Clearwater Paper (CLW) $308.01M.

Which company is growing faster?

Clearwater Paper (CLW) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -1.9%.

Which company is more profitable?

Clearwater Paper (CLW) has the highest net margin (Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%). On return on invested capital, Clearwater Paper (CLW) leads (Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -5.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year West Fraser Timber (WFG) returned the most: Mercer International (MERC) -94.4%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +6.1%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -3.2%. Over five years, West Fraser Timber (WFG) compounded fastest (Mercer International (MERC) -57.7%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.8%/yr, Clearwater Paper (CLW) -14.9%/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%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 0.00%. West Fraser Timber (WFG) and Clearwater Paper (CLW) 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%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%, Clearwater Paper (CLW) 52.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.