Contrasting Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER) and Textron (NYSE:TXT)

Textron (NYSE:TXT) and Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER) are both aerospace companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and institutional ownership.

Risk and Volatility

Textron has a beta of 0.99, suggesting that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bridger Aerospace Group has a beta of 0.16, suggesting that its share price is 84% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Textron and Bridger Aerospace Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Textron	6.22%	14.63%	6.33%
Bridger Aerospace Group	4.96%	-1.91%	2.23%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Textron and Bridger Aerospace Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Textron	$14.80 billion	1.19	$921.00 million	$5.11	19.72
Bridger Aerospace Group	$98.61 million	1.40	-$15.57 million	($0.52)	-4.79

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Textron and Bridger Aerospace Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Textron	0	7	4	1	2.50
Bridger Aerospace Group	0	1	1	0	2.50

Textron presently has a consensus price target of $98.60, suggesting a potential downside of 2.15%. Bridger Aerospace Group has a consensus price target of $5.25, suggesting a potential upside of 110.84%. Given Bridger Aerospace Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bridger Aerospace Group is more favorable than Textron.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.0% of Textron shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.9% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Textron shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 19.5% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Textron beats Bridger Aerospace Group on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Textron

Textron Inc. operates in the aircraft, defense, industrial, and finance businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Textron Aviation, Bell, Textron Systems, Industrial, Textron eAviation, and Finance. The Textron Aviation segment manufactures, sells, and services business jets, turboprop and piston engine aircraft, and military trainer and defense aircraft; and offers maintenance, inspection, and repair services, as well as sells commercial parts. The Bell segment supplies military and commercial helicopters, tiltrotor aircrafts, and related spare parts and services. The Textron Systems segment offers unmanned aircraft systems, electronic systems and solutions, advanced marine crafts, piston aircraft engines, live military air-to-air and air-to-ship training, weapons and related components, and armored and specialty vehicles. The Industrial segment offers blow-molded solutions, including conventional plastic fuel tanks and pressurized fuel tanks for hybrid vehicle applications, clear-vision systems, plastic tanks for catalytic reduction systems, and battery housing systems for use in electric vehicles primarily to automobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs); and golf cars, off-road utility vehicles, powersports products, light transportation vehicles, aviation ground support equipment, professional turf-maintenance equipment, and turf-care vehicles to golf courses and resorts, government agencies and municipalities, consumers, outdoor enthusiasts, and commercial and industrial users. The Textron eAviation segment manufactures and sells light aircraft and gliders with electric and combustion engines; and provides other research and development initiatives related to sustainable aviation solutions. The Finance segment offers financing services to purchase new and pre-owned aviation aircraft and Bell helicopters. Textron Inc. was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.

About Bridger Aerospace Group

Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc. provides aerial wildfire management, relief and suppression, and firefighting services to federal and state government agencies in the United States. It offers fire suppression services, such as direct fire suppression aerial firefighting support services for ground crew to drop large amounts of water quickly and directly on wildfires. The company also provides aerial surveillance services, including fire suppression aircraft over an incident and tactical coordination with the incident commander through its manned and unmanned aircraft. It operates an aircraft fleet of 18 planes. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Belgrade, Montana.