Clearwater Paper Corporation (CLW) vs Mercer International Inc. (MERC)

Clearwater Paper Corporation and Mercer International Inc. are both Paper & Paper Products companies. Clearwater Paper Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $224.2M against $16.7M — 13.4× the size. Mercer International Inc. has negative trailing earnings, so its P/E is not meaningful; Clearwater Paper Corporation trades at 87.0×. Clearwater Paper Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: −3.19% against −3.52%. Clearwater Paper Corporation has the higher net margin (0.16% vs −27.0%) and the higher return on invested capital (−1.45% vs −17.9%). Across the 17 metrics below, Clearwater Paper Corporation leads on 13 and Mercer International Inc. on 4.

Valuation

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
P/E 87.00 n/m —
P/S 0.15 0.01 0.15
P/B 0.28 n/m —
Price to free cash flow 3.97 n/m —
EV/EBITDA 6.65 n/m —
EV/Sales 0.32 0.87 0.62
Earnings yield 1.15% (2,960.00%) 1.15%
Free cash flow yield 25.16% (823.69%) 8.26%

Profitability

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
Gross margin 1.80% (4.39%) 5.69%
Operating margin (1.61%) (22.24%) (1.61%)
Net margin 0.16% (26.95%) 0.16%
Free cash flow margin 3.77% (4.06%) 3.77%
Return on equity 0.30% (492.61%) 0.30%
Return on assets 0.14% (24.15%) 0.14%
Return on invested capital (1.45%) (17.88%) (1.45%)

Growth

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
Revenue growth (TTM) (3.19%) (3.52%) (3.19%)
EPS growth (last fiscal year) (109.83%) (485.83%) (54.87%)
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR (3.60%) 5.59% 5.59%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Health

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
Debt to equity 0.71 (10.52) 0.71
Current ratio 1.47 1.23 1.47
Net debt to EBITDA 3.14 (5.97) 1.38

Dividend

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
Dividend yield — 0.00% —
Payout ratio — — —

Size

Metric CLW MERC Paper & Paper Products median
Market cap 224.21m 16.70m 226.79m

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