SON vs SW vs GPK Stock Comparison

Sonoco Products, Smurfit Westrock and Graphic Packaging Holding Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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SON Sonoco Products Co
$49.29 -1.5% 1M +22.1% 1Y
Market cap
$4.91B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$7.37B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
5 wins
SW Smurfit Westrock plc
$42.22 -9.0% 1M -2.0% 1Y
Market cap
$22.34B
P/E
45.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$31.33B
Div. yield
–
Paper Packaging Basic Materials
3 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sonoco Products leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sonoco Products 5, Smurfit Westrock 3, Graphic Packaging Holding 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionSONSWGPKLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $4.91B $22.34B $2.57B SW
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -21.6x 45.0x 13.3x GPK
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 9.7x 18.6x 13.5x SON
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +3.6% +1.7% +0.0% SON
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.6% 2.2% GPK
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 3.1% 4.3% GPK
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 3.2x 5.1x SW
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +22.1% -2.0% -49.2% SON
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -3.2%/yr -4.0%/yr -15.1%/yr SON
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.7% 44.2% 47.4% SON
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 44/100 63/100 54/100 SW

Percentile Scorecard

SONSWGPK

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

AxisSONSWGPK
Valuation 67 #6 of 16 73 #5 of 16 93 #2 of 16
Growth 20 #13 of 16 73 #5 of 16 0 #16 of 16
Profitability 43 #9 of 15 50 #8 of 15 71 #5 of 15
Financial Health 29 #11 of 15 79 #4 of 15 21 #12 of 15
Shareholder Returns 62 #6 of 14 39 #9 of 14 85 #3 of 14
Overall 44 63 54
  • SON 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

PeriodSONSWGPKSPY
1 month -1.5%-9.0%-6.5% -0.8%
3 months -16.0%-15.7%-21.3% +3.5%
6 months -1.9%+5.4%-8.6% +7.0%
Year to date +12.9%+9.2%-41.8% +12.2%
1 year +22.1%-2.0%-49.2% +13.0%
3 years -2.6%+35.8%-58.1% +86.3%
3 years, per year -0.9%+10.8%-25.2% +23.1%
5 years -15.2%-18.4%-55.8% +68.6%
5 years, per year -3.2%-4.0%-15.1% +11.0%
10 years -1.4%+92.7%-29.5% +258.0%
10 years, per year -0.1%+6.8%-3.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureSONSWGPKSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.7%44.2%47.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.4%40.4%48.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.411.460.89 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.66-0.04-1.04 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -41.2%-55.1%-73.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -18.6%-18.6%-49.5% -1.8%
52-week high $60.55$51.84$17.37 $779.14
52-week low $39.27$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.

MultipleSONSWGPK
P/E now vs peer median -21.6xmedian 19.3x 44.5xmedian 19.3x 13.4xmedian 19.3x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.7xmedian 0.7x 0.3xmedian 0.7x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.7x 8.4xmedian 9.7x 7.5xmedian 9.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 13.9xmedian 15.7x 21.8xmedian 15.7x 13.7xmedian 15.7x
P/B now vs peer median 1.7xmedian 1.4x 1.2xmedian 1.4x 0.8xmedian 1.4x
PEG now vs peer median 0.62median 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 monthsSONSWGPK
Revenue $7.37B $31.33B $8.64B
Gross profit $1.49B $5.62B $1.34B
Operating income $202.22M $1.48B $504.00M
Net income -$226.60M $497.00M $194.00M
Free cash flow – $1.02B $189.00M
EPS (diluted) $-2.28 $0.94 $0.65
Cash & equivalents $183.10M $677.00M $205.00M
Total debt – $14.16B $5.67B
Shares (diluted) 99.78M 526.00M 296.70M
Enterprise value $4.91B $19.25B $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
MetricSONSWGPK
P/E -21.6x 44.5x 13.4x
P/FCF 13.9x 21.8x 13.7x
P/Operating cash flow 7.7x 6.7x 3.3x
P/S 0.7x 0.7x 0.3x
P/B 1.7x 1.2x 0.8x
P/Tangible book 14.6x 1.3x 1.0x
EV/EBITDA – 8.4x 7.5x
EV/EBIT – 24.1x 16.0x
EV/Revenue 0.7x 1.1x 0.9x
EV/FCF – 35.1x 42.6x
EV/Operating cash flow 7.7x 10.8x 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.62 – -0.39

Growth

14 metrics
MetricSONSWGPK
Revenue growth (1Y) 3.6% 1.7% 0.0%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.9% – -3.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -1.3% -4.5% -26.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 13.7% – -13.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) -63.5% 17.2% -45.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -30.2% – -24.2%
Net income growth (1Y) -136.1% 41.2% -63.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.0% – -35.0%
EPS growth (1Y) -136.2% 40.1% -63.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -35.0% – -34.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.3% 52.3% 3.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -7.8% – -10.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 1,094% 147.8%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – -28.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricSONSWGPK
Gross margin – 17.9% 15.5%
EBITDA margin – 13.5% 12.4%
Operating margin – 4.7% 5.8%
Pretax margin – 2.3% 2.9%
Net margin – 1.6% 2.2%
FCF margin – 3.2% 2.2%
Operating cash flow margin 8.6% 10.5% 9.2%
Return on equity -7.1% 2.7% 6.0%
Return on assets -2.1% 1.1% 1.7%
Return on invested capital – 3.1% 4.3%
Return on capital employed – 3.9% 5.3%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -2.8x 6.6x 4.1x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4% 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricSONSWGPK
Debt / assets – 31.3% 48.6%
Debt / equity – 0.8x 1.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 3.2x 5.1x
Debt / FCF – 14.0x 30.0x
Liabilities / assets 72.2% 60.0% 72.2%
Equity / assets 27.8% 40.0% 27.8%
Interest coverage – – 2.0x
Current ratio 1.2x 1.4x 1.4x
Quick ratio – 0.7x 0.5x
Cash ratio – 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.45 1.34

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricSONSWGPK
Dividend yield 4.3% 4.2% 5.0%
Net buyback yield – -0.1% –
Shareholder yield 4.3% 4.2% 5.0%
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.

ConsensusSONSWGPK
Forward P/E 9.7xFY2026 18.6xFY2026 13.5xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.09FY2026 $2.27FY2026 $0.65FY2026
EPS growth, next FY -10.9%FY2026 +10.7%FY2026 -63.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +17.5% +67.4% +44.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $7.65BFY2026 $33.77BFY2026 $8.24BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +8.3%FY2026 -4.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -5.9% +9.3% +0.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersSONSWGPK
Held by institutions 97.9% 95.9% 100.0%
Institutions holding 507 640 499
Change in shares held, QoQ +13.2% +5.7% +5.3%
Institutions buying 264 373 322
Institutions selling 160 191 130
Buyers to sellers 1.65 1.95 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.

SONSWGPK
SON 1.00 0.52 0.44
SW 0.52 1.00 0.52
GPK 0.44 0.52 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, SON, SW and GPK?

Smurfit Westrock (SW) is the largest by market capitalisation: Sonoco Products (SON) $4.91B, Smurfit Westrock (SW) $22.34B, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) $2.57B.

Which stock is cheaper, SON, SW and GPK?

Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Sonoco Products (SON) -21.6x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 45.0x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sonoco Products (SON) is cheapest (Sonoco Products (SON) 9.7x, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 18.6x, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 13.5x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sonoco Products (SON) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Sonoco Products (SON) +3.6%, 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 (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 1.6%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 2.2%). On return on invested capital, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) leads (Smurfit Westrock (SW) 3.1%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 4.3%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sonoco Products (SON) returned the most: Sonoco Products (SON) +22.1%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -2.0%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -49.2%. Over five years, Sonoco Products (SON) compounded fastest (Sonoco Products (SON) -3.2%/yr, Smurfit Westrock (SW) -4.0%/yr, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) -15.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sonoco Products (SON) has been the steadiest (Sonoco Products (SON) 33.7%, Smurfit Westrock (SW) 44.2%, Graphic Packaging Holding (GPK) 47.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, SON, 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, Sonoco Products (SON) 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.