Financial Review: Sprott (NYSE:SII) & Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL)

Sprott (NYSE:SII) and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, valuation, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Sprott and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprott	25.21%	15.04%	12.25%
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	4.49%	2.61%	0.26%

Dividends

Sprott pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Sprott pays out 62.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Sprott has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sprott and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprott	0	1	3	0	2.75
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	0	1	0	0	2.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Sprott and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprott	$178.65 million	12.37	$49.29 million	$1.93	44.38
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	$9.07 billion	0.49	$203.02 million	$0.31	11.98

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has higher revenue and earnings than Sprott. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sprott, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

28.3% of Sprott shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. 18.3% of Sprott shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

Sprott has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Sprott beats Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sprott

Sprott Inc. is a publicly owned asset management holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the firm provides asset management, portfolio management, wealth management, fund management, and administrative and consulting services to its clients. It offers mutual funds, hedge funds, and offshore funds, along with managed accounts. Further, the firm also provides broker-dealer activities. Sprott Inc. was formed on February 13, 2008 and is based in Toronto, Canada.

About Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A. provides a range of financial services and products to public and private sector customers in Colombia and Central America. It offers traditional deposit services and products, including checking accounts, savings accounts, time deposits, and other deposits. The company also provides commercial loans comprising general purpose loans, working capital loans, leases, loans funded by development banks, corporate credit cards, and overdraft loans; consumer loans, such as payroll loans, personal loans, automobile and other vehicle loans, credit cards, overdrafts, leases, and general purpose loans; and microcredit and mortgage loans. In addition, the company offers pension and severance fund management services; investment banking, including services relating to capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and project finance transactions; mobile and online banking services; and bancassurance, insurance, trust, bonded warehousing and brokerage transactions, real estate escrow services, merchandise and document storage and deposit, customs agency, cargo management, surety bond and merchandise distribution services, and payment and collection services. Further, it is involved in equity investments in various sectors, including infrastructure, energy and gas, agribusiness, and hospitality; and treasury operations. The company was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Bogotá, Colombia. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores S.A.