Analyzing Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) and Smurfit Kappa Group (OTCMKTS:SMFKY)

Smurfit Kappa Group (OTCMKTS:SMFKY) and Packaging Corporation of America (NYSE:PKG) are both large-cap materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Dividends

Smurfit Kappa Group pays an annual dividend of $1.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Packaging Corporation of America pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Packaging Corporation of America pays out 77.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.0% of Smurfit Kappa Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.8% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.6% of Packaging Corporation of America shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Smurfit Kappa Group and Packaging Corporation of America, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smurfit Kappa Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Packaging Corporation of America	0	3	6	1	2.80

Packaging Corporation of America has a consensus target price of $261.57, suggesting a potential upside of 2.18%. Given Packaging Corporation of America’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Packaging Corporation of America is more favorable than Smurfit Kappa Group.

Risk & Volatility

Smurfit Kappa Group has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its stock price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Packaging Corporation of America has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smurfit Kappa Group and Packaging Corporation of America”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smurfit Kappa Group	$12.20 billion	0.98	$820.38 million	N/A	N/A
Packaging Corporation of America	$9.53 billion	2.39	$774.10 million	$7.70	33.24

Smurfit Kappa Group has higher revenue and earnings than Packaging Corporation of America.

Profitability

This table compares Smurfit Kappa Group and Packaging Corporation of America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smurfit Kappa Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Packaging Corporation of America	7.25%	18.96%	8.14%

Summary

Packaging Corporation of America beats Smurfit Kappa Group on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smurfit Kappa Group

Smurfit Kappa Group Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland, Germany, France, Mexico, rest of Europe, and other Americas. The company offers e-commerce, retail, consumer, industrial, bottle, protective, heavy-duty, hexacomb, and various punnet packaging products; composite cardboard tubes, bags, and sacks; and bag-in-box, a packaging system that comprises films, accessories, bags, taps, and boxes. It also provides point of sale displays; cardboards of social distancing; corrugated sheet boards, solid board sheets, folding carton sheet boards, sack Kraft papers, MG brown Kraft papers, preprint products, agro-papers, technical papers, BanaBag, and Catcher Board MB12; and various types of containerboards, such as kraftliners, testliners, and containerboard flutings. In addition, the company offers recycling solutions to cardboard and paper products; and supplies packaging machinery. It primarily serves consumer goods, industrial goods, and food and drink sectors. Smurfit Kappa Group Plc was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

About Packaging Corporation of America

Packaging Corporation of America engages in the production of container products. It operates through the following segments: Packaging, Paper, and Corporate and Other. The Packaging segment offers a variety of corrugated packaging products, such as conventional shipping containers. The Paper segment manufactures and sells a range of papers, including communication-based papers, and pressure sensitive papers. The Corporate and Other segment focuses on transportation assets, such as rail cars, and trucks. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Lake Forest, IL.