Critical Comparison: DS Smith (OTCMKTS:DITHF) and Greif (NYSE:GEF)

DS Smith (OTCMKTS:DITHF) and Greif (NYSE:GEF) are both mid-cap materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares DS Smith and Greif’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
DS Smith	N/A	N/A	N/A
Greif	7.53%	8.09%	3.86%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.7% of Greif shares are owned by institutional investors. 7.7% of Greif shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

DS Smith has a beta of 0.8, suggesting that its share price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Greif has a beta of 0.75, suggesting that its share price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for DS Smith and Greif, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
DS Smith	0	0	0	0	0.00
Greif	1	3	1	0	2.00

Greif has a consensus price target of $83.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.55%. Given Greif’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Greif is more favorable than DS Smith.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares DS Smith and Greif”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
DS Smith	$8.57 billion	1.16	$484.18 million	N/A	N/A
Greif	$5.43 billion	0.75	$268.80 million	$3.19	27.55

DS Smith has higher revenue and earnings than Greif.

Summary

Greif beats DS Smith on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About DS Smith

DS Smith Plc provides packaging solutions, paper products, and recycling services worldwide. The company offers transit and transport, consumer, retail and shelf ready, heavy duty, fiber base pallets, automotive standard, multi-material, dangerous goods, and e-commerce packaging, as well as packaging for food and drinks, health and beauty, apparel and footwear, home and DIY, and consumer electronics. It also provides various recycling and waste management services, including total waste management, paper and cardboard recycling, confidential shredding, and plastics recycling, as well as recycling solutions for the retail, manufacturing, print and publishing, paper mills, automotive, pharmaceutical, and public sectors. In addition, the company offers brown, white, and kraft liners; medium/fluting grades; dual-use grades; coated papers; and specialty papers, as well as technical and supply chain services, as well as point of sale display solutions and packaging machine systems. The company was formerly known as David S. Smith (Holdings) PLC and changed its name to DS Smith Plc in 2001. DS Smith Plc was founded in 1940 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

About Greif

Greif, Inc. engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management segments. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment produces and sells containerboards, corrugated sheets and containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets; and produces and sells coated and uncoated recycled paperboard, and recycled fiber. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use properties. As of October 31, 2023, this segment owned approximately 175,000 acres of timber properties in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Delaware, Ohio.