Skanska AB (publ) (OTCMKTS:SKSBF) & Aecon Group (OTCMKTS:AEGXF) Critical Survey

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

Insider & Institutional Ownership

24.2% of Skanska 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 endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Skanska AB (publ) pays an annual dividend of $4.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 18.6%. Aecon Group pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Skanska AB (publ) pays out 51.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. Skanska AB (publ) is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Skanska AB (publ) and Aecon Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Skanska AB (publ)	N/A	N/A	N/A	$8.45	2.78
Aecon Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.37	39.44

Skanska 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Skanska AB (publ) and Aecon Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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

Aecon Group has a consensus target price of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 59.61%. Given Aecon Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Aecon Group is more favorable than Skanska AB (publ).

Profitability

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

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

Summary

Aecon Group beats Skanska AB (publ) on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Skanska AB (publ)

Skanska AB (publ) operates as a construction and project development company in the Nordic region, Europe, and the United States. It operates through four segments: Construction, Residential Development, Commercial Property Development, and Investment Properties. The Construction segment builds schools, hospitals, healthcare and science laboratories, rails, subways, airports, highways, bridges, tunnels, offices, and homes. The Residential Development segment develops, builds, and sells residential projects, including single and multi-family housing. The Commercial Property Development segment initiates, develops, leases, and divests in offices, life-science, and logistics and other commercial warehouses, as well as residential rental properties. The Investment Properties segment owns and manages investment properties. It also produces asphalt, gravel, rock, concrete gravel, road construction materials, macadam, and concrete. In addition, the company engages in the construction and renovation of buildings; provision of infrastructure services, including operation, maintenance, and construction work; and rental of machines and equipment. Skanska AB (publ) was founded in 1887 and is headquartered 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.