Comparing Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) & Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE)

Sonoco Products (NYSE:SON) and Myers Industries (NYSE:MYE) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

77.7% of Sonoco Products shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.8% of Myers Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Sonoco Products shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Myers Industries shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sonoco Products and Myers Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sonoco Products	1	7	3	0	2.18
Myers Industries	0	1	2	0	2.67

Sonoco Products currently has a consensus target price of $57.38, suggesting a potential upside of 16.40%. Myers Industries has a consensus target price of $37.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.44%. Given Sonoco Products’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sonoco Products is more favorable than Myers Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Sonoco Products and Myers Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sonoco Products	N/A	N/A	N/A
Myers Industries	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sonoco Products and Myers Industries”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sonoco Products	N/A	N/A	N/A	($2.30)	-21.43
Myers Industries	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.97	33.33

Sonoco Products is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Myers Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Myers Industries beats Sonoco Products on 5 of the 7 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sonoco Products

Sonoco Products Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells various engineered and sustainable packaging products in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company operates Consumer Packaging and Industrial Paper Packaging segments. The Consumer Packaging segment offers round and shaped rigid paper, steel, and plastic containers; metal and peelable membrane ends, closures, and components; thermoformed plastic trays and enclosures; and high-barrier flexible packaging products. The Industrial Paper Packaging segment provides paperboard tubes, cones, and cores; paper-based protective packaging products; and uncoated recycled paperboard products. It also offers various packaging materials, including plastic, paper, foam, and other specialty materials. Sonoco Products Company sells its products in various markets, which include paper, textile, film, food, packaging, construction, and wire and cable. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Hartsville, South Carolina.

About Myers Industries

Myers Industries, Inc. engages in distribution of tire service supplies in Ohio. It operates through two segments, The Material Handling and Distribution. The Material Handling segment offers pallets, small parts bins, bulk shipping containers, and OEM parts, as well as storage and organization, and custom plastic products; and injection molded, rotationally molded or blow molded products, consumer fuel containers and tanks for water, fuel, and waste handling. It serves industrial manufacturing, food processing, retail/wholesale products distribution, agriculture, automotive, recreational and marine vehicles, healthcare, appliance, bakery, electronics, textiles, consumer markets, and other markets under Akro-Mils, Jamco, Buckhorn, Ameri-Kart, Scepter, Elkhart Plastics, Trilogy Plastics, and Signature Systems brands directly to end-users, as well as through distributors. The Distribution segment engages in the distribution of tools, equipment, and supplies for tire, wheel, and under-vehicle service on passenger, heavy truck, and off-road vehicles; and manufacture and sale of tire repair materials and custom rubber products, as well as reflective highway marking tapes under the Myers Tire Supply, Myers Tire Supply International, Tuffy Manufacturing, Mohawk Rubber Sales, Patch Rubber Company, Elrick, Fleetline, MTS, Seymoure, Advance Traffic Markings, and MXP brands. This segment serves retail and truck tire dealers, commercial auto and truck fleets, auto dealers, general service and repair centers, tire re-treaders, truck stop operations, and government agencies. Myers Industries, Inc. was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Akron, Ohio.