Head to Head Contrast: Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) vs. Great Elm Capital Group (NASDAQ:GECC)

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) and Great Elm Capital Group (NASDAQ:GECC) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Great Elm Capital Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	$9.07 billion	0.50	$203.02 million	$0.31	12.35
Great Elm Capital Group	$39.32 million	2.17	$3.55 million	$1.56	4.74

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

Risk and Volatility

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Great Elm Capital Group has a beta of 0.98, meaning that its stock price is 2% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Great Elm Capital Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	0	1	0	0	2.00
Great Elm Capital Group	0	1	0	0	2.00

Great Elm Capital Group has a consensus price target of $11.00, indicating a potential upside of 48.85%. Given Great Elm Capital Group’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Great Elm Capital Group is more favorable than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.2% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.8% of Great Elm Capital Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Great Elm Capital Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Great Elm Capital Group pays an annual dividend of $1.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 20.0%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Great Elm Capital Group pays out 94.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Great Elm Capital Group has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Great Elm Capital Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Great Elm Capital Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	4.49%	2.61%	0.26%
Great Elm Capital Group	36.81%	12.49%	4.36%

Summary

Great Elm Capital Group beats Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Great Elm Capital Group

Great Elm Capital Corp. is a business development company which specializes in loan and mezzanine, middle market investments. It invests in the debt instruments of middle market companies. The fund prefers to invest in media, commercial services and supplies, healthcare, telecommunication services, communications equipment. It typically makes equity investments between $3 million and $10 million in companies with revenues between $3 million and $75 million.