Critical Analysis: World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD) vs. AEON Financial Service (OTCMKTS:AEOJF)

World Acceptance (NASDAQ:WRLD) and AEON Financial Service (OTCMKTS:AEOJF) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares World Acceptance and AEON Financial Service’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
World Acceptance	6.71%	12.13%	4.00%
AEON Financial Service	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for World Acceptance and AEON Financial Service, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
World Acceptance	0	2	0	0	2.00
AEON Financial Service	0	0	0	0	0.00

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares World Acceptance and AEON Financial Service”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
World Acceptance	$585.74 million	1.51	$34.59 million	$8.46	22.46
AEON Financial Service	N/A	N/A	N/A	$143.79	0.06

World Acceptance has higher revenue and earnings than AEON Financial Service. AEON Financial Service is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than World Acceptance, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

83.6% of World Acceptance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 23.5% of AEON Financial Service shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.0% of World Acceptance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

World Acceptance beats AEON Financial Service on 8 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About World Acceptance

World Acceptance Corporation engages in consumer finance business in the United States. The company provides short-term small installment loans, medium-term larger installment loans, related credit insurance, and ancillary products and services to individuals. It offers income tax return preparation and filing services; and automobile club memberships. It serves individuals with limited access to other sources of consumer credit, such as banks, credit unions, other consumer finance businesses, and credit card lenders. World Acceptance Corporation was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

About AEON Financial Service

AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides various financial services in Japan. The company operates Retail, Solutions, China Area, Mekong Area, and Malay Area segments. It is involved in banking, short-term insurance, bank agency, ATM, housing and other loans, property leases, installment sales, life and non-life insurance agency, life insurance sales, loan purchases, credit card purchase contracts, collection and payment agency, credit card, and electronic money businesses, as well as bank and business management activities. In addition, the company engages in the management, collection, and purchase of specified monetary claims, and backup servicing businesses. AEON Financial Service Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1981 and is based in Tokyo, Japan.