DS Smith (SMDS) 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 earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability, risk, community ranking, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and media sentiment.

Does the media refer more to SKG or SMDS?

In the previous week, DS Smith had 1 more articles in the media than Smurfit Kappa Group. MarketBeat recorded 1 mentions for DS Smith and 0 mentions for Smurfit Kappa Group. DS Smith's average media sentiment score of 0.67 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	Positive

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 67.03% 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 67.03%	Underperform Votes 333 32.97%

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 3.1%. 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 6,428.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Smurfit Kappa Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better earnings and valuation, SKG or SMDS?

Smurfit Kappa Group has higher revenue and earnings than DS Smith. Smurfit Kappa Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than DS Smith, 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	£6.82B	1.16	£385M	£0.28	2,051.79

Do analysts recommend SKG or SMDS?

Smurfit Kappa Group currently has a consensus price target of GBX 4,200, suggesting a potential upside of 14.88%. DS Smith has a consensus price target of GBX 413.75, suggesting a potential downside of 27.98%. Given Smurfit Kappa Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly 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)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
DS Smith	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50

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

75.8% of Smurfit Kappa Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of DS Smith shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Smurfit Kappa Group shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of DS Smith shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, SKG or SMDS?

Smurfit Kappa Group has a beta of 0.94, indicating that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DS Smith has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SKG or SMDS more profitable?

Smurfit Kappa Group has a net margin of 6.72% compared to DS Smith's net margin of 5.64%. 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	5.64%	9.58%	4.02%

Summary

Smurfit Kappa Group beats DS Smith on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.