Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) Competitors

Smurfit Kappa Group (LON:SKG) and DS Smith (LON:SMDS) are both mid-cap consumer cyclical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, community ranking, media sentiment, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders have more ownership in SKG or SMDS?

75.8% of Smurfit Kappa Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.1% of DS Smith shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Smurfit Kappa Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.4% of DS Smith shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor SKG or SMDS?

In the previous week, DS Smith had 4 more articles in the media than Smurfit Kappa Group. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for DS Smith and 0 mentions for Smurfit Kappa Group. DS Smith's average media sentiment score of 0.42 beat Smurfit Kappa Group's score of 0.00 indicating that DS Smith is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Smurfit Kappa Group	Neutral
DS Smith	Neutral

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, SKG or SMDS?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smurfit Kappa Group	£11.27B	0.85	£758M	£2.48	1,474.19
DS Smith	£7.43B	0.85	£463M	£0.33	1,383.03

Is SKG or SMDS more profitable?

Smurfit Kappa Group has a net margin of 6.72% compared to DS Smith's net margin of 6.37%. Smurfit Kappa Group's return on equity of 14.31% beat DS Smith's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smurfit Kappa Group	6.72%	14.31%	6.89%
DS Smith	6.37%	10.77%	4.39%

Do analysts prefer SKG or SMDS?

Smurfit Kappa Group presently has a consensus price target of GBX 4,015, suggesting a potential upside of 9.82%. DS Smith has a consensus price target of GBX 391.67, suggesting a potential downside of 14.18%. Given Smurfit Kappa Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Smurfit Kappa Group is more favorable than DS Smith.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smurfit Kappa Group	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
DS Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67

Which has more risk and volatility, SKG or SMDS?

Smurfit Kappa Group has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DS Smith has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in SKG or SMDS?

DS Smith received 425 more outperform votes than Smurfit Kappa Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 72.62% of users gave Smurfit Kappa Group an outperform vote while only 67.10% of users gave DS Smith an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Smurfit Kappa Group	Outperform Votes 252 72.62%	Underperform Votes 95 27.38%
DS Smith	Outperform Votes 677 67.10%	Underperform Votes 332 32.90%

Is SKG or SMDS a better dividend stock?

Smurfit Kappa Group pays an annual dividend of GBX 131 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. DS Smith pays an annual dividend of GBX 18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Smurfit Kappa Group pays out 5,282.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. DS Smith pays out 5,454.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Summary

Smurfit Kappa Group beats DS Smith on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.