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Best Paper Stocks to Buy Now (2025)

Top paper stocks in 2025 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best paper stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best paper product stocks to buy right now are:

Suzano Sa (NYSE:SUZ) is the #1 top paper stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Suzano Sa (NYSE:SUZ) is: Value: C, Growth: D, Momentum: C, Sentiment: B, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Suzano Sa (NYSE:SUZ) has a Due Diligence Score of 49, which is 15 points higher than the paper industry average of 34.

SUZ passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Suzano Sa has seen its stock lose -12.39% over the past year, overperforming other paper stocks by 33 percentage points.

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) is the #2 top paper stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) is: Value: B, Growth: F, Momentum: F, Sentiment: F, Safety: B, Financials: B, and AI: C.

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) has a Due Diligence Score of 47, which is 13 points higher than the paper industry average of 34.

SLVM passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Sylvamo has seen its stock lose -49.33% over the past year, underperforming other paper stocks by -4 percentage points.

Sylvamo has an average 1 year price target of $62.50, an upside of 44.11% from Sylvamo's current stock price of $43.37.

Sylvamo stock has a consensus Sell recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Sylvamo, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 50% have issued a hold, while 50% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) is the #3 top paper stock out of 6 with a Zen Rating of D. Stocks with a rating of D have had an average return of -4.5% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: F, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 11 points higher than the paper industry average of 34. Although this number is above the industry average, our proven quant model rates CLW as a "D".

CLW passed 15 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Clearwater Paper has seen its stock lose -27.78% over the past year, overperforming other paper stocks by 17 percentage points.

Clearwater Paper has an average 1 year price target of $33.00, an upside of 70.19% from Clearwater Paper's current stock price of $19.39.

Clearwater Paper stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Clearwater Paper, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 50% have issued a Buy, 0% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 3 paper stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 paper stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Mercer International (NASDAQ:MERC) has an annual dividend yield of 5.75%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the paper industry average of 4.53%. Mercer International's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Mercer International's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Mercer International's dividend payout ratio of -18.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) has an annual dividend yield of 4.15%, which is the same as the paper industry average of 4.53%.

Sylvamo's dividend payout ratio of 25.8% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Suzano Sa (NYSE:SUZ) has an annual dividend yield of 3.69%, which is -1 percentage points lower than the paper industry average of 4.53%. Suzano Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% one times in the last 10 years. Suzano Sa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Suzano Sa's dividend payout ratio of 28.7% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Paper stocks were down -0.47% in the last day, and up 1.11% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why paper stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued paper stocks right now are:

Sylvamo (NYSE:SLVM) is the most undervalued paper stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Sylvamo has a valuation score of 29, which is 3 points higher than the paper industry average of 26. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Sylvamo's stock has dropped -49.33% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the paper industry by -4 percentage points.

Suzano Sa (NYSE:SUZ) is the second most undervalued paper stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Suzano Sa has a valuation score of 43, which is 17 points higher than the paper industry average of 26. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Suzano Sa's stock has dropped -12.39% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the paper industry by 33 percentage points.

Clearwater Paper (NYSE:CLW) is the third most undervalued paper stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Clearwater Paper has a valuation score of 43, which is 17 points higher than the paper industry average of 26. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Clearwater Paper's stock has dropped -27.78% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the paper industry by 17 percentage points.

50% of paper stocks rated by analysts are a hold right now. On average, analysts expect paper stocks to rise by 48.79% over the next year.

0% of paper stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of paper stocks are rated B (Buy), 40% are rated C (Hold), 40% are rated D (Sell), and 20% are rated F (Strong Sell).