Financial Contrast: Ball (NYSE:BALL) and Amcor (NYSE:AMCR)

Ball (NYSE:BALL) and Amcor (NYSE:AMCR) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, risk and dividends.

Risk and Volatility

Ball has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Amcor has a beta of 0.58, indicating that its share price is 42% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Ball pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Amcor pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. Ball pays out 22.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Amcor pays out 110.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Amcor has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. Amcor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Ball and Amcor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ball	6.61%	18.76%	5.35%
Amcor	4.71%	15.92%	5.01%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Ball and Amcor”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ball	$13.16 billion	1.30	$912.00 million	$3.53	18.26
Amcor	$23.51 billion	0.93	$177.00 million	$2.36	19.96

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Ball and Amcor, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ball	1	2	10	0	2.69
Amcor	0	6	5	1	2.58

Ball currently has a consensus price target of $71.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.15%. Amcor has a consensus price target of $49.36, suggesting a potential upside of 4.80%. Given Ball’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Ball is more favorable than Amcor.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Ball shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.1% of Amcor shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Ball shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Amcor shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Ball beats Amcor on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ball

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages. It also manufactures and sells extruded aluminum aerosol containers, recloseable aluminum bottles, aluminum cups, and aluminum slugs. Ball Corporation was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Westminster, Colorado.

About Amcor

Amcor plc develops, produces, and sells packaging products in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The company operates through two segments, Flexibles and Rigid Packaging. The Flexibles segment provides flexible and film packaging products in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care, and other industries. The Rigid Packaging segment offers rigid containers for various beverage and food products, including carbonated soft drinks, water, juices, sports drinks, milk-based beverages, spirits and beer, sauces, dressings, spreads, and personal care items; and plastic caps for various applications. The company sells its products through its direct sales force. Amcor plc was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.