Head to Head Comparison: Acco Brands (NYSE:ACCO) vs. Black Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF)

Black Diamond Group (OTCMKTS:BDIMF) and Acco Brands (NYSE:ACCO) are both small-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Dividends

Black Diamond Group pays an annual dividend of $0.13 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Acco Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Black Diamond Group pays out 52.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Acco Brands pays out 48.4% 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. Acco Brands is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Black Diamond Group and Acco Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Black Diamond Group	0	0	1	0	3.00
Acco Brands	0	2	1	0	2.33

Acco Brands has a consensus price target of $6.00, indicating a potential upside of 38.25%. Given Acco Brands’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Acco Brands is more favorable than Black Diamond Group.

Risk & Volatility

Black Diamond Group has a beta of 0.75, indicating that its stock price is 25% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Acco Brands has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Black Diamond Group and Acco Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Black Diamond Group	4.60%	7.24%	2.96%
Acco Brands	3.74%	12.57%	3.69%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Black Diamond Group and Acco Brands”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Black Diamond Group	$326.99 million	2.61	$24.93 million	$0.25	50.00
Acco Brands	$1.52 billion	0.26	$41.30 million	$0.62	7.00

Acco Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Black Diamond Group. Acco Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Black Diamond Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

84.6% of Acco Brands shares are owned by institutional investors. 25.2% of Black Diamond Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 5.3% of Acco Brands shares are owned by insiders. 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.

Summary

Acco Brands beats Black Diamond Group on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Black Diamond Group

Black Diamond Group Limited rents and sells modular space and workforce accommodation solutions. It operates through two segments, Modular Space Solutions and Workforce Solutions. The Modular Space Solutions segment provides modular space rentals to customers in the construction, real estate development, education, manufacturing, health care, financial, government, and defense industries in North America. Its products include office units, lavatories, storage units, large multi-unit office complexes, classroom facilities, banking and health care facilities, high security modular buildings, custom manufactured modular facilities, blast resistant structures, SmartSpace interchangeable paneled units, and storage containers. This segment also sells new and used space rentals units; and provides delivery, installation, project management, and ancillary rental items, products, and services. The Workforce Solutions segment provides workforce housing solutions, including rental of accommodations and surface equipment, and provision of turnkey lodging and travel management logistics services in Canada, the United States, and Australia. This segment also provides associated services, such as installation, transportation, dismantlement, and sale of used fleet assets. This segment primarily serves the resource, infrastructure, construction, disaster recovery, and education sectors. It also provides specialized field rentals to oil and gas industries. The company markets its rental assets, custom sales, and ancillary products and services through in-house sales personnel, its website, social media, web campaigns, and its digital marketplace. Black Diamond Group Limited was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

About Acco Brands

ACCO Brands Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets consumer, school, technology, and office products. It operates through three segments: ACCO Brands North America, ACCO Brands EMEA, and ACCO Brands International. The company provides computer and gaming accessories, planners, dry erase boards, school notebooks, and janitorial supplies; storage and organization products, such as lever-arch binders, sheet protectors, and indexes; sheet protectors and indexes; laminating, binding, and shredding machines; writing instruments and art products; stapling and punching products; and do-it-yourself tools. It offers its products under the AT-A-GLANCE, Barrilito, Derwent, Esselte, Five Star, Foroni, GBC, Hilroy, Kensington, Leitz, Marbig, Mead, NOBO, PowerA, Quartet, Rapid, Rexel, Swingline, Tilibra, Artline, and Spirax brand names. The company markets and sells its products through various channels, including mass retailers, e-tailers, discount, drug/grocery, and variety chains; warehouse clubs; hardware and specialty stores; independent office product dealers; office superstores; wholesalers; contract stationers; and technology specialty businesses, as well as sells products directly to commercial and consumer end-users through its e-commerce platform and direct sales organization. The company was founded in 1893 and is headquartered in Lake Zurich, Illinois.