Contrasting Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (NASDAQ:OMAB) & Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (NYSE:ASR)

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (NYSE:ASR) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte (NASDAQ:OMAB) are both mid-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

10.6% of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 9.5% of Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste	2	2	3	1	2.38
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte	1	2	2	0	2.20

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste presently has a consensus price target of $324.50, indicating a potential upside of 25.83%. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte has a consensus price target of $134.00, indicating a potential upside of 26.69%. Given Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte is more favorable than Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste.

Profitability

This table compares Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste	25.10%	20.94%	11.13%
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte	31.69%	49.38%	16.89%

Volatility and Risk

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte has a beta of 0.61, indicating that its stock price is 39% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste	$1.94 billion	3.98	$547.52 million	$18.73	13.77
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte	$832.66 million	5.40	$296.74 million	$6.33	16.71

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste has higher revenue and earnings than Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste pays an annual dividend of $12.51 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte pays an annual dividend of $5.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste pays out 66.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte pays out 80.4% 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 Aeroportuario del Sureste is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste beats Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste

Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. holds concessions to operate, maintain, and develop airports in the southeast region of Mexico. The company operates airports that are located in the cities of Cancún, Cozumel, Mérida, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Tapachula, and Minatitlán. It provides aeronautical services, which include passenger, aircraft landing and parking, passenger walkway, and airport security services. The company also offers non-aeronautical services, such as leasing of space at its airports to retailers, restaurants, airlines, and other commercial tenants; catering, handling, and ground transportation services, as well as engages in the various commercial operations. In addition, it holds concessions to operate the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and various airports in Colombia, including the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellín, the José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, the Los Garzones Airport in Montería, the Antonio Roldán Betancourt Airport in Carepa, the El Caraño Airport in Quibdó, and the Las Brujas Airport in Corozal. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.

About Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte

Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte, S.A.B. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, holds concessions to develop, operate, and maintain airports in Mexico. The company operates 13 international airports in Monterrey, Acapulco, Mazatlán, Zihuatanejo, Ciudad Juárez, Reynosa, Chihuahua, Culiacán, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Tampico, Torreón, and Zacatecas cities. It also operates the NH Collection Hotel in Terminal 2 of the Mexico City International Airport, and a hotel under the Hilton Garden Inn name at the Monterrey International Airport. In addition, the company provides aeronautical services, which include passenger, aircraft landing and parking, boarding and unloading, passenger walkway, and airport security services. Further, it offers complementary services that comprise leasing of space to airlines, cargo handling, baggage-screening, permanent and non-permanent ground transportation, and access rights services; non-aeronautical services, such as leasing of space at its airports to retailers, restaurants, and other commercial tenants, as well as maintaining of parking facilities and advertising; and diversification services, which consists of operation and lease of the industrial park and real estate services, as well as hotel and air cargo logistics services. Additionally, the company provides construction services. It has a strategic alliance with VYNMSA Desarrollo Inmobiliario, S.A. de C.V. to build and operate an industrial park at the Monterrey airport. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.