Aimia (OTCMKTS:GAPFF) vs. Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) Financial Review

Aimia (OTCMKTS:GAPFF) and Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) are both industrials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

47.1% of Aimia shares are held by institutional investors. 1.9% of Aramark shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Aimia and Aramark, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aimia	0	0	0	0	N/A
Aramark	0	2	9	0	2.82

Aramark has a consensus target price of $39.68, suggesting a potential upside of 0.03%. Given Aramark’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Aramark is more favorable than Aimia.

Profitability

This table compares Aimia and Aramark’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aimia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Aramark	1.93%	14.09%	3.21%

Dividends

Aimia pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 38.9%. Aramark pays an annual dividend of $0.38 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Aimia pays out -61.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Aramark pays out 16.0% 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. Aimia is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aimia and Aramark”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aimia	N/A	N/A	N/A	($1.14)	-1.58
Aramark	$19.95 billion	0.52	$674.11 million	$2.38	16.67

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

Summary

Aramark beats Aimia on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aimia

Aimia Inc., an investment holding company, focuses on long-term investments in public and private companies. It operates through two segments, Investments and Holdings, and Investment Management. The company, through its subsidiary, Mittleman Investment Management, LLC, provides discretionary portfolio management services to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. The company, through its long-term investments, owns and operates Club Premier, a coalition loyalty program; and operates BIG Loyalty, an AirAsia's loyalty program, as well as invests in B2B technology platform and services company, travel technology company, and outdoor advertising firm. The company was formerly known as Groupe Aeroplan Inc. and changed its name to Aimia Inc. in October 2011. Aimia Inc. was incorporated in 2008 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

About Aramark

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services. It also provides on-site restaurants, catering, convenience stores, and executive dining services; beverage and vending services; and facility management services comprising landscaping, transportation, capital program management, payment services, and other facility consulting services relating to building operations. In addition, the company offers concessions, banquet, and catering services; retail services and merchandise sale, recreational, and lodging services; and facility management services at sports, entertainment, and recreational facilities. Further, it offers correctional food; and operates commissaries, laundry facilities, and property rooms. It primarily serves business and industry, sports, leisure and corrections, education, healthcare, public institutions, manufacturing, transportation, service, and other industries. The company was formerly known as ARAMARK Holdings Corporation. Aramark was founded in 1959 and is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.