Head to Head Analysis: Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) vs. ONEX (OTCMKTS:ONEXF)

Value Line (NASDAQ:VALU) and ONEX (OTCMKTS:ONEXF) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and risk.

Dividends

Value Line pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. ONEX pays an annual dividend of $0.29 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Value Line pays out 57.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ONEX pays out 4.7% 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. Value Line has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Value Line is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.3% of Value Line shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.7% of ONEX shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Value Line shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Value Line and ONEX, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Value Line	0	1	0	0	2.00
ONEX	0	1	2	0	2.67

Profitability

This table compares Value Line and ONEX’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Value Line	61.58%	20.88%	14.55%
ONEX	56.15%	5.09%	3.19%

Risk & Volatility

Value Line has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ONEX has a beta of 1.25, indicating that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Value Line and ONEX”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Value Line	$35.08 million	10.48	$20.69 million	$2.26	17.33
ONEX	$649.00 million	8.77	$303.00 million	$6.21	13.35

ONEX has higher revenue and earnings than Value Line. ONEX is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Value Line, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Value Line beats ONEX on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Value Line

Value Line, Inc. produces and sells investment periodicals and related publications. Its investment periodicals and related publications cover a range of investments, including stocks, mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), and options. The company's research services include The Value Line Investment Survey, The Value Line Investment Survey – Small and Mid-Cap, The Value Line 600, and The Value Line Fund Advisor Plus that provide statistical and text coverage of various investment securities, with an emphasis placed on its proprietary research, analysis, and statistical ranks. It also provides niche newsletters comprising Value Line Select: Dividend Income & Growth, Value Line Select: ETFs, The Value Line Special Situations Service, The Value Line M&A Service, The Value Line Climate Change Investing Service, and The Value Line Information You Should Know Wealth Newsletter that offer information on a less comprehensive basis for securities that are of particular interest to subscribers; digital versions of its products through its Website, www.valueline.com; The Value Line Research Center online platform; and investment analysis software, such as The Value Line Investment Analyzer and The New Value Line ETFs Service. In addition, the company offers current and historical financial databases comprising fundamental DataFile, estimates and projections, and mutual funds; and copyright products, which include unit investment trusts, variable annuities, managed accounts, and ETFs. Further, it operates as publishing unit for the investment related periodical publications and copyrights; places advertising on behalf of the company's publications; and distributes print publications. It serves individual and professional investors, as well as institutions, including municipal and university libraries, and investment firms. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in New York, New York. Value Line, Inc. is a subsidiary of Arnold Bernhard & Co., Inc.

About ONEX

Onex Corporation is a private equity firm specializing in acquisitions and platform acquisitions. The firm makes investments in buyouts, large- middle market, large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap market and distressed companies. It also invests in recapitalization, growth capital, corporate carve-outs of subsidiaries and mission-critical supply divisions from multinational corporations, operational restructurings of undervalued businesses, and builds up. The firm seeks to invest in technology, electronics manufacturing services, industrial, aerospace, healthcare, retail, restaurants, industrials products, customer care services, metal services, building products, entertainment, gaming, cabinetry products, commercial vehicles, commercial and investment banking, financial services, commercial and multi-unit residential real estate. It invests in global businesses headquartered in North America, including United States and Canada, or Europe. The firm seeks to invest between $125 million and $1 billion in companies that have minimum revenues of $300 million. It does not consider size if the company is in an industry in which the firm already has presence. The firm seeks to make direct as well as co-investments through managed private equity, real estate and credit funds. It seeks to acquire a control position in its portfolio companies. Onex Corporation was founded in 1984 and is based in Toronto, Canada with additional offices in New York, New York; Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey; Boston, Massachusetts and London, United Kingdom.