Financial Contrast: Ratos AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:RTOBF) and Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF)

Ratos AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:RTOBF) and Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Ratos AB (publ) and Aecon Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ratos AB (publ)	N/A	N/A	N/A	$3.12	1.16
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.37	44.36

Ratos AB (publ) is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aecon Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.3% of Ratos AB (publ) shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.8% of Aecon Group shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Ratos AB (publ) and Aecon Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ratos AB (publ)	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Ratos AB (publ) and Aecon Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ratos AB (publ)	0	0	0	0	0.00
Aecon Group	0	0	2	0	3.00

Aecon Group has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 41.89%. Given Aecon Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Aecon Group is more favorable than Ratos AB (publ).

Dividends

Ratos AB (publ) pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 83.3%. Aecon Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Ratos AB (publ) pays out 96.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Aecon Group pays out 95.8% 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

Aecon Group beats Ratos AB (publ) on 6 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ratos AB (publ)

Ratos AB (publ) is a private equity firm specializing in buyouts, turnarounds, add on acquisitions, and middle market transactions. The firm does not invest in early stages and in companies that operate in the arms industry, pornography, or are detrimental to the environment. It seeks to invest in unlisted medium sized companies. The firm invests in industry, construction and services, consumer, and technology sectors. The firm typically invests in the Nordic region, with focus on Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Norway. It seeks to invest in companies with equity investments between SEK250 million ($29.66 million) and SEK5000 million ($762.77 million), sales value between SEK300 million ($45.77 million) and SEK5000 million (762.77 million) and EBITDA greater than SEK50 million ($5.15 million). The firm prefers minority and majority stakes. The firm prefers to be the principal owner with a minimum holding of at least 20 percent and also seeks a board seat. It prefers to hold its investment between five to ten years. It invests through its own balance sheet and bank loans. Ratos AB (publ) was founded in 1934 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

About Aecon Group

Aecon Group Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors. The Concessions segment engages in the development, building, financing, and operation of construction projects by way of public-private partnership contract structures. This segment also provides development of domestic international public-private partnership; private finance solution; developing strategic partnerships; leading and/or participating in development teams; and operations and maintenance of infrastructure assets services. The company was formerly known as Prefac Concrete Co. Ltd. and changed its name to Aecon Group Inc. in June 2001. Aecon Group Inc. was founded in 1867 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.