SLVM vs WFG vs MERC Stock Comparison

Sylvamo, West Fraser Timber and Mercer International Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SLVM Sylvamo Corp
$32.44 -9.8% 1M -25.2% 1Y
Market cap
$1.28B
P/E
16.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.30B
Div. yield
–
Pulp and Paper 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, Sylvamo 4, Mercer International 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSLVMWFGMERCLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.28B $5.40B $8.61M WFG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 16.9x -3.9x 0.0x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 26.6x — — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months -7.1% -10.2% -4.8% MERC
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 2.3% -26.2% -27.9% SLVM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 7.4% — -23.1% SLVM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.9x -181.5x -6.8x WFG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 1.17% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -25.2% +4.9% -95.0% WFG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +3.1%/yr -3.4%/yr -58.8%/yr SLVM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 38.4% 33.6% 97.9% WFG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 57/100 33/100 14/100 SLVM

Percentile Scorecard

SLVMWFGMERC

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

AxisSLVMWFGMERC
Valuation 88 #35 of 287 45 #159 of 287 20 #231 of 287
Growth 11 #237 of 266 6 #251 of 266 1 #264 of 266
Profitability 64 #86 of 236 21 #187 of 236 27 #172 of 236
Financial Health 27 #211 of 288 – 8 #264 of 288
Shareholder Returns 97 #8 of 203 62 #78 of 203 13 #176 of 203
Overall 57 33 14
  • SLVM ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • WFG ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials
  • MERC ranked among 308 companies in Basic Materials

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodSLVMWFGMERCSPY
1 month -9.8%-2.7%-59.4% -0.2%
3 months -16.7%+3.4%-80.9% +3.9%
6 months -25.5%+9.0%-88.0% +8.2%
Year to date -32.6%+14.0%-93.4% +12.9%
1 year -25.2%+4.9%-95.0% +12.3%
3 years -25.4%+6.2%-98.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year -9.3%+2.0%-74.8% +23.3%
5 years +16.5%-15.8%-98.8% +67.9%
5 years, per year +3.1%-3.4%-58.8% +10.9%
10 years —+103.5%-98.4% +261.1%
10 years, per year —+7.4%-33.7% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureSLVMWFGMERCSPY
Volatility, 1Y 38.4%33.6%97.9% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 35.3%32.5%115.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.620.641.87 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.660.14-0.97 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -67.4%-43.2%-99.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -40.7%-9.1%-95.3% -1.2%
52-week high $54.74$76.69$2.79 $779.14
52-week low $31.19$57.91$0.12 $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.

MultipleSLVMWFGMERC
P/E now vs peer median 17.0xmedian 18.1x -4.0xmedian 18.1x 0.0xmedian 18.1x
P/S now vs peer median 0.4xmedian 1.8x 1.1xmedian 1.8x 0.0xmedian 1.8x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 4.9xmedian 9.8x -2,933xmedian 9.8x -6.8xmedian 9.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median -117.4xmedian 15.5x -12.7xmedian 15.5x -0.1xmedian 15.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.4xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x -0.1xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -0.49median 0.76 0.61median 0.76 0.00median 0.76

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 monthsSLVMWFGMERC
Revenue $3.30B $5.24B $1.86B
Gross profit $679.00M $1.14B $52.72M
Operating income $261.00M -$1.49B -$437.94M
Net income $76.00M -$1.20B -$517.45M
Free cash flow -$11.00M -$435.00M -$154.18M
EPS (diluted) $1.91 $-17.33 $-7.72
Cash & equivalents $227.00M $74.00M $78.78M
Total debt $3.55B $437.00M $1.95B
Shares (diluted) 39.80M 79.16M 67.04M
Enterprise value $1.16B $4.50B -$439.61M

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
MetricSLVMWFGMERC
P/E 17.0x -4.0x 0.0x
P/FCF -117.4x -12.7x -0.1x
P/Operating cash flow 6.2x – -0.1x
P/S 0.4x 1.1x 0.0x
P/B 1.4x 1.0x -0.1x
P/Tangible book 1.4x 1.0x -0.1x
EV/EBITDA 4.9x -2,933x -6.8x
EV/EBIT 8.2x -3.9x -4.3x
EV/Revenue 0.6x 1.1x 1.0x
EV/FCF -193.8x -13.5x -12.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 10.2x – -22.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.49 0.61 0.00

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSLVMWFGMERC
Revenue growth (1Y) -7.1% -10.2% -4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) -4.2% -13.9% -5.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -16.7% -29.4% -81.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) -12.8% -27.6% -45.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) -32.2% -867.5% -5,891%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -23.2% -52.1% -163.0%
Net income growth (1Y) -65.1% -1,620% -373.6%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -36.5% -188.8% -130.8%
EPS growth (1Y) -64.0% -331.3% -372.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% -6.5% -130.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -49.5% – -270.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -19.7% – -41.4%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -105.7% 17.8% -261.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -27.1% 1.3% -0.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSLVMWFGMERC
Gross margin 20.6% 21.8% 2.8%
EBITDA margin 13.3% 0.0% -14.9%
Operating margin 7.9% -28.4% -23.6%
Pretax margin 4.3% -29.3% -29.7%
Net margin 2.3% -26.2% -27.9%
FCF margin -0.3% -8.3% -8.3%
Operating cash flow margin 6.3% – -4.6%
Return on equity 7.9% -24.5% –
Return on assets 2.7% – -27.0%
Return on invested capital 7.4% – -23.1%
Return on capital employed 12.4% – -33.3%
Asset turnover 1.2x – 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.8x – 0.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.3% – 0.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSLVMWFGMERC
Debt / assets 33.5% – 104.3%
Debt / equity 1.0x 0.1x -19.9x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.9x -181.5x -6.8x
Debt / FCF -87.6x -1.0x -12.7x
Liabilities / assets 66.8% – 105.2%
Equity / assets 33.2% – -5.2%
Interest coverage – – -3.7x
Current ratio 1.5x – 1.3x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.2x – 0.1x
Altman Z-score 3.20 – 0.04

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSLVMWFGMERC
Dividend yield 5.5% 1.8% 0.0%
Net buyback yield 3.3% – –
Shareholder yield 8.8% 1.8% 0.0%
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.

ConsensusSLVMWFGMERC
Forward P/E 26.6xFY2026 – –
EPS, next fiscal year $1.22FY2026 $-4.07FY2026 $-3.79FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -65.5%FY2026 – –
EPS growth, the year after +323.0% – –
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.41BFY2026 $5.84BFY2026 $2.02BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.8%FY2026 +6.9%FY2026 +7.9%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.8% +9.6% +10.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSLVMWFGMERC
Held by institutions 99.6% 49.7% 63.8%
Institutions holding 335 166 67
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.4% +3.1% -11.3%
Institutions buying 162 79 27
Institutions selling 88 55 19
Buyers to sellers 1.84 1.44 1.42

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.

SLVMWFGMERC
SLVM 1.00 0.44 0.09
WFG 0.44 1.00 0.19
MERC 0.09 0.19 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SLVM, WFG and MERC?

West Fraser Timber (WFG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sylvamo (SLVM) $1.28B, West Fraser Timber (WFG) $5.40B, Mercer International (MERC) $8.61M.

Which company is growing faster?

Mercer International (MERC) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sylvamo (SLVM) -7.1%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -10.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -4.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sylvamo (SLVM) has the highest net margin (Sylvamo (SLVM) 2.3%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -26.2%, Mercer International (MERC) -27.9%). On return on invested capital, Sylvamo (SLVM) leads (Sylvamo (SLVM) 7.4%, Mercer International (MERC) -23.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year West Fraser Timber (WFG) returned the most: Sylvamo (SLVM) -25.2%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) +4.9%, Mercer International (MERC) -95.0%. Over five years, Sylvamo (SLVM) compounded fastest (Sylvamo (SLVM) +3.1%/yr, West Fraser Timber (WFG) -3.4%/yr, Mercer International (MERC) -58.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Sylvamo (SLVM) 0.00%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 0.00%, Mercer International (MERC) 1.17%. Sylvamo (SLVM) 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 (Sylvamo (SLVM) 38.4%, West Fraser Timber (WFG) 33.6%, Mercer International (MERC) 97.9%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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.