Financial Survey: Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF) versus Babcock International Group (OTCMKTS:BCKIF)

Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF) and Babcock International Group (OTCMKTS:BCKIF) are both industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Aecon Group and Babcock International Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Babcock International Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Aecon Group and Babcock International Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aecon Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Babcock International Group	0	1	2	0	2.67

Aecon Group currently has a consensus price target of $21.30, suggesting a potential upside of 76.91%. Babcock International Group has a consensus price target of $480.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7,239.45%. Given Babcock International Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Babcock International Group is more favorable than Aecon Group.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.8% of Aecon Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.5% of Babcock International Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 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.

Dividends

Aecon Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Babcock International Group pays an annual dividend of $0.22 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. 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. Babcock International Group pays out 49.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Babcock International Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Aecon Group and Babcock International Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.37	32.95
Babcock International Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.45	14.49

Babcock International Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Aecon Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Babcock International Group beats Aecon Group on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Babcock International Group

Babcock International Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides value-add services for aerospace, defense, and security in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Africa, North America, Australasia, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Marine, Nuclear, Land, and Aviation. It designs, procures, operates, and manages critical utility and process equipment; offers asset management, defense and maritime training, information and intelligence, equipment and system, and facilities and infrastructure services, as well as naval platforms; and designs, manufactures, and provides through-life support for mechanical and electrical systems and equipment. The company also offers naval architecture, engineering, and project management services; submarines and complex engineering services in support of various decommissioning programs and projects, training and operation support, new build program management, and design and installation; critical vehicle fleet management, and equipment support and training services for military and civil customers; and designs, assesses, manufactures, installs, maintains, and decommissions vehicles for police, fire and ambulance, civil service, military, and other security-focused organizations. In addition, it provides plain line track renewal services; and engineering services for track projects, signaling, telecommunications, and on-track plants. Further, the company offers critical engineering services to defense and civil customers, including pilot training, equipment support, and airbase management, as well as operates aviation fleets that provide delivering emergency services. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.