Critical Contrast: AutoCanada (AOCIF) and Its Peers

AutoCanada (OTCMKTS:AOCIF) is one of 285 public companies in the “Specialty Retail” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare AutoCanada to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for AutoCanada and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AutoCanada	0	3	0	0	2.00
AutoCanada Competitors	3526	15186	21148	548	2.46

As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies have a potential upside of 11.27%. Given AutoCanada’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe AutoCanada has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

44.8% of AutoCanada shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by institutional investors. 21.0% of shares of all “Specialty Retail” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

AutoCanada pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.1%. AutoCanada pays out 51.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Specialty Retail” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.0% and pay out 35.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares AutoCanada and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
AutoCanada	N/A	N/A	8.43
AutoCanada Competitors	$7.00 billion	$390.09 million	14.82

AutoCanada’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than AutoCanada. AutoCanada is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares AutoCanada and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AutoCanada	N/A	N/A	N/A
AutoCanada Competitors	-2.02%	-28.75%	3.24%

Summary

AutoCanada peers beat AutoCanada on 10 of the 13 factors compared.

About AutoCanada

AutoCanada Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates franchised automobile dealerships and related business. The company offers a range of automotive products and services, including new and used vehicles, vehicle leasing, vehicle parts, vehicle maintenance and collision repair services, and extended service contracts; and vehicle protection, after-market products, and auction services. It also arranges financing and insurance for vehicle purchases by its customers through third-party finance and insurance sources. The company sells its vehicles under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Infiniti, Nissan, Hyundai, Subaru, Audi, Volkswagen, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, MINI, Ford, Acura, Honda, Kia, and Porsche brands. It operates franchised dealerships in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in Canada, as well as in Illinois, the United States. The company also offers used vehicles online. AutoCanada Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Edmonton, Canada.