Comparing Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) and Interfor (OTCMKTS:IFSPF)

Interfor (OTCMKTS:IFSPF) and Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

35.5% of Interfor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.2% of Sylvamo shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Sylvamo shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Interfor and Sylvamo’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Interfor	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sylvamo	2.31%	8.36%	2.90%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Interfor and Sylvamo, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Interfor	0	2	4	0	2.67
Sylvamo	2	2	1	0	1.80

Sylvamo has a consensus price target of $46.67, indicating a potential upside of 29.77%. Given Sylvamo’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Sylvamo is more favorable than Interfor.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Interfor and Sylvamo”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Interfor	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.88	11.76
Sylvamo	$3.35 billion	0.43	$132.00 million	$1.88	19.13

Sylvamo has higher revenue and earnings than Interfor. Interfor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sylvamo, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Sylvamo beats Interfor on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Interfor

Interfor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells wood products in Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Taiwan, and internationally. It offers decking, fascia and board, framing, v-joint paneling, fineline paneling, and siding products, as well as appearance, structural, studs, timbers, and machine stress related products. The company also provides stock for windows and doors; supplies specialty materials; and logs and wood chips. Its products are used for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. The company was formerly known as International Forest Products Limited and changed its name to Interfor Corporation in May 2014. Interfor Corporation was incorporated in 1963 and is headquartered in Burnaby, Canada.

About Sylvamo

Sylvamo Corporation produces and markets uncoated freesheet for cutsize, offset paper, and pulp in Latin America, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Europe, Latin America, and North America segments. The Europe segment offers copy, tinted, and colored laser printing paper under REY Adagio and Pro-Design brands; and graphic and high-speed inkjet printing papers under the brand Jetstar; as well as produces uncoated freesheet papers. The Latin America segment focuses on uncoated freesheet paper under Chamex, Chamequinho and Chambril brands, as well as produces HP papers. This segment also operates integrated mills and non-integrated mills. The North America segment offers imaging, commercial printing, and converting papers, as well as uncoated papers under Hammermill, Springhill, Williamsburg, Accent, DRM and Postmark brand names. It distributes its products through a variety of channels, including retail merchants, e-commerce, agents, resellers, and paper distributors. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.