Reviewing TriMas (NASDAQ:TRS) and Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK)

TriMas (NASDAQ:TRS) and Graphic Packaging (NYSE:GPK) are both materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for TriMas and Graphic Packaging, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TriMas	0	1	3	0	2.75
Graphic Packaging	3	9	0	0	1.75

TriMas presently has a consensus price target of $41.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.75%. Graphic Packaging has a consensus price target of $11.14, indicating a potential downside of 6.27%. Given TriMas’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe TriMas is more favorable than Graphic Packaging.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.4% of TriMas shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.7% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by institutional investors. 17.5% of TriMas shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Graphic Packaging shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

TriMas has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Graphic Packaging has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its stock price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares TriMas and Graphic Packaging’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TriMas	104.22%	6.41%	3.71%
Graphic Packaging	2.25%	9.95%	2.77%

Dividends

TriMas pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Graphic Packaging pays an annual dividend of $0.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. TriMas pays out 0.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Graphic Packaging pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Graphic Packaging has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Graphic Packaging is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares TriMas and Graphic Packaging”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TriMas	$1.04 billion	1.38	$120.14 million	$24.03	1.66
Graphic Packaging	$8.62 billion	0.41	$444.00 million	$0.66	18.02

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

Summary

TriMas beats Graphic Packaging on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TriMas

TriMas Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of products for consumer products, aerospace, and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates through Packaging, Aerospace, and Specialty Products segments. The Packaging segment offers dispensing products, such as foaming and sanitizer pumps, lotion and hand soap pumps, beverage dispensers, perfume sprayers, and nasal and trigger sprayers; polymeric and steel caps and closures comprising food lids, flip-top and beverage closures, child resistance caps, drum and pail closures, and flexible spouts; polymeric jar products; integrated dispensers; bag-in-box products; and consumable vascular delivery and diagnostic test components under the Rieke, Taplast, Affaba & Ferrari, Intertech, Omega, and Rapak brands. The Aerospace segment provides fasteners, collars, blind bolts, rivets, ducting, and connectors for air management systems, and other highly-machined parts and components to original equipment manufacturers, supply chain distributors, and tier one suppliers, as well as maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)/aftermarket providers; and military and defense aerospace applications and platforms under the Monogram Aerospace Fasteners, Allfast Fastening Systems, Mac Fasteners, TFI Aerospace, RSA Engineered Products, and Martinic Engineering brands. The Specialty Products segment offers steel cylinders for use in the transportation, storage, and dispensing of compressed gases under the Norris Cylinder brand; natural gas powered wellhead engines, compressors, and replacement parts for oil and natural gas production, and other industrial and commercial markets under the Arrow brand; and spare parts for various industrial engines. It sells its products through a direct sales force, third-party agents, and distributors. TriMas Corporation was incorporated in 1986 and is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

About Graphic Packaging

Graphic Packaging Holding Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, produces, and sells consumer packaging products to brands in food, beverage, foodservice, household, and other consumer products. It operates through three segments: Paperboard Manufacturing, Americas Paperboard Packaging, and Europe Paperboard Packaging. The company offers unbleached, bleached, and recycled paperboard to various paperboard packaging converters and brokers. It also provides paperboard packaging products for consumer packaged goods companies; and cups, lids, and food containers for foodservice companies and quick-service restaurants serving the food, beverage, and consumer product markets, including healthcare and beauty. The company also designs, manufactures, and installs specialized packaging machines. The company sells its products through sales offices, as well as through broker arrangements with third parties in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. Graphic Packaging Holding Company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.