Contrasting Greif (NYSE:GEF) and Intertape Polymer Group (OTCMKTS:ITPOF)

Intertape Polymer Group (OTCMKTS:ITPOF) and Greif (NYSE:GEF) are both materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, earnings, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Intertape Polymer Group and Greif, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Intertape Polymer Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Greif	1	3	1	0	2.00

Greif has a consensus price target of $83.00, indicating a potential downside of 1.65%. Given Greif’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Greif is more favorable than Intertape Polymer Group.

Dividends

Intertape Polymer Group pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Greif pays an annual dividend of $2.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Intertape Polymer Group pays out -453.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Greif pays out 77.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Greif has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years. Greif is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Risk & Volatility

Intertape Polymer Group has a beta of 1.96, indicating that its share price is 96% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greif has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Intertape Polymer Group and Greif’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Intertape Polymer Group	-0.50%	35.79%	9.19%
Greif	7.53%	8.09%	3.86%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.7% of Greif shares are held by institutional investors. 7.7% of Greif shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Intertape Polymer Group and Greif”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Intertape Polymer Group	$1.53 billion	1.22	$67.81 million	($0.15)	-209.33
Greif	$5.43 billion	0.72	$268.80 million	$3.19	26.45

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

Summary

Greif beats Intertape Polymer Group on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Intertape Polymer Group

Intertape Polymer Group Inc. provides packaging and protective solutions for the industrial markets in North America, Europe, and internationally. The company offers pressure-sensitive and water-activated tapes; packaging equipment; industrial and performance specialty tapes, such as masking, duct, electrical, foil, process indicator, sheathing, sports, and reinforced filament tapes; protective packaging solutions, including inflatable systems, mailer products, bubble cushioning, paper void fills, thermal solutions, and protective foam roll stocks; stencil products; shrink films; stretch and lumber wraps; structure and geomembrane fabrics; non-manufactured flexible intermediate bulk containers; specialized polyolefin films; and engineered coated products for industrial and retail use. It sells its products through various distribution channels. The company serves food and beverage, general manufacturing, fulfillment/e-commerce, retail and transportation, building and construction, consumer, oil and gas, aerospace, marine, composites, moving and storage, general manufacturing, mailing, HVAC, and military and medical applications. Intertape Polymer Group Inc. was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

About Greif

Greif, Inc. engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment produces and sells containerboards, corrugated sheets and containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets; and produces and sells coated and uncoated recycled paperboard, and recycled fiber. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use properties. As of October 31, 2023, this segment owned approximately 175,000 acres of timber properties in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Delaware, Ohio.