Analyzing Sound Point Meridian Capital (NYSE:SPMC) and Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL)

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores (NYSE:AVAL) and Sound Point Meridian Capital (NYSE:SPMC) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.2% of Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores shares are held by institutional investors. 0.9% of Sound Point Meridian Capital shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Sound Point Meridian Capital pays an annual dividend of $3.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 22.3%. Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores pays out 36.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Sound Point Meridian Capital pays out 1,500.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Volatility & Risk

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sound Point Meridian Capital has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Sound Point Meridian Capital’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	4.61%	5.95%	0.60%
Sound Point Meridian Capital	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Sound Point Meridian Capital, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	0	1	1	0	2.50
Sound Point Meridian Capital	1	1	2	0	2.25

Sound Point Meridian Capital has a consensus price target of $18.90, suggesting a potential upside of 40.63%. Given Sound Point Meridian Capital’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sound Point Meridian Capital is more favorable than Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores and Sound Point Meridian Capital”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores	$9.07 billion	0.54	$203.02 million	$0.33	12.50
Sound Point Meridian Capital	$64.39 million	4.28	$4.10 million	$0.20	67.20

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

Summary

Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores beats Sound Point Meridian Capital on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Sound Point Meridian Capital

Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc. is an externally managed, non-diversified closed-end management investment company. Its investment objective is to generate high current income, with a secondary objective to generate capital appreciation, by investing primarily in third-party collateralized loan obligation equity and mezzanine tranches. Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc. is based in NEW YORK.