Blackstone (NYSE:BX) & Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) Critical Survey

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Blackstone and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blackstone	$13.61 billion	7.38	$3.02 billion	$4.47	29.95
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	$6.76 billion	0.94	$344.37 million	$0.40	13.41

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.0% of Blackstone shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Blackstone shares are held by company 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blackstone	21.84%	23.77%	10.06%
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	5.08%	6.06%	0.60%

Dividends

Blackstone pays an annual dividend of $5.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Blackstone pays out 115.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 40.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Blackstone has a beta of 1.56, meaning that its share price is 56% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its share price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blackstone	0	11	13	0	2.54
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	0	3	0	0	2.00

Blackstone currently has a consensus target price of $149.43, indicating a potential upside of 11.60%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a consensus target price of $5.50, indicating a potential upside of 2.52%. Given Blackstone’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Blackstone is more favorable than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores.

Summary

Blackstone beats Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores on 15 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Blackstone

Blackstone Inc. is an alternative asset management firm specializing in real estate, private equity, hedge fund solutions, credit, secondary funds of funds, public debt and equity and multi-asset class strategies. The firm typically invests in early-stage companies. It also provide capital markets services. The real estate segment specializes in opportunistic, core+ investments as well as debt investment opportunities collateralized by commercial real estate, and stabilized income-oriented commercial real estate across North America, Europe and Asia. The firm's corporate private equity business pursues transactions throughout the world across a variety of transaction types, including large buyouts,special situations, distressed mortgage loans, mid-cap buyouts, buy and build platforms, which involves multiple acquisitions behind a single management team and platform, and growth equity/development projects involving significant majority stakes in portfolio companies and minority investments in operating companies, shipping, real estate, corporate or consumer loans, and alternative energy greenfield development projects in energy and power, property, dislocated markets, shipping opportunities, financial institution breakups, re-insurance, and improving freight mobility, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, infrastructure, enterprise tech and consumer, as well as consumer technologies. The firm considers investment in Asia and Latin America. It seeks to invest between $0.25 million and $900 million per transaction. It invests in companies with enterprise value between $500 million and $5000 million. It has a three year investment period. Its hedge fund business manages a broad range of commingled and customized fund solutions and its credit business focuses on loans, and securities of non-investment grade companies spread across the capital structure including senior debt, subordinated debt, preferred stock and common equity. Blackstone Inc. was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices across Asia, Europe, North America and Central America.

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.