Mexico has been in the news in recent times due to the long and protracted fight against the drug cartels. While a lot of the news coming out of Mexico has not been very positive, there are a lot of positive things coming out of Mexico. Airports have been full of passengers, meaning that airport stocks have been soaring.
There are three major airport operators, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR), Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC) and Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Nort(ADR) (NASDAQ:OMAB). Of the three airport operators, Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR) has the best chance of soaring the most, while Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC) also looks well positioned for growth. Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Nort(ADR) (NASDAQ:OMAB), on the other hand, has increased the most in the last year and it looks like like it has less upside remaining than the other two Mexican airport operators.
Where are they flying?
All three of these companies operate several airports, usually within a specific part of Mexico. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR) operates and maintains airports in such tourist hot spots as Cancun and Cozumel, among other places. Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC) operates airports everywhere from big city Guadalajara to tourist hot spots Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos to troubled Tijuana.
Tijuana is worth a special mention because while there are issues plaguing the city, it is right across the border from San Diego and offers different and cheaper flights than San Diego International Airport (Lindbergh Field).
Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Nort(ADR) (NASDAQ:OMAB) operates airports as varied as business friendly Monterrey to tourist-haven Acapulco to very troubled Ciudad Juarez. Like Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez is very close to El Paso, Texas, although the airport is not competing with El Paso International Airport at this time due to the level of violence in Ciudad Juarez.
Which airports will soar?
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR), with its nine airports across Mexico, looks like a good bet for solid growth in the future. Looking at the last year, Grupo Aeroportuario Del Sureste is up 45.9% and its profit margin in the last year is a whopping 40.1%. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR) also has started to expand outside of Mexico; it manages Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico in a joint venture with infrastructure investment firm Highstar Capital. The high profit margin and the fact that it is expanding outside of Mexico makes Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste (ADR) (NYSE:ASR) the best bet out of the three Mexican airport operators.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC) also has a very solid roster of airports. With a mix of airports in business cities, tourist cities and regional centers the airports are not necessarily dependent on one type of airline passenger. The results for Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico (ADR) (NYSE:PAC) have been very good in the last year, with the stock up 40.2% in the last year and the profit margin was a very good 36.9%. The stock has gone down 13.4% year-to-date, which is a cause for a bit of concern, but it should be able to bounce back and keep on growing in the future.
