Reviewing Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB) and AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV)

Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB) and AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) are both mid-cap aerospace companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability, earnings and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

86.4% of AeroVironment shares are held by institutional investors. 16.0% of Astronics shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of AeroVironment shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Astronics has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, AeroVironment has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Astronics and AeroVironment’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astronics	5.12%	49.34%	12.10%
AeroVironment	-13.93%	3.26%	2.56%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Astronics and AeroVironment”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astronics	$862.13 million	3.46	$29.36 million	$1.18	70.76
AeroVironment	$820.63 million	10.60	$43.62 million	($4.34)	-40.15

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Astronics and AeroVironment, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astronics	0	0	0	0	0.00
AeroVironment	1	3	18	2	2.88

AeroVironment has a consensus target price of $318.78, suggesting a potential upside of 82.96%. Given AeroVironment’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe AeroVironment is more favorable than Astronics.

Summary

AeroVironment beats Astronics on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astronics

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products. This segment serves airframe manufacturers (OEM) that build aircraft for the commercial, military, and general aviation markets; suppliers to OEMs; and aircraft operators, such as airlines; suppliers to the aircraft operators; and branches of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Test Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, and maintains automated test systems that support the aerospace and defense, and mass transit industries, as well as training and simulation devices for commercial and military applications. It serves OEMs and prime government contractors for electronics and military products. Astronics Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in East Aurora, New York.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc. designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), Tactical Missile System (TMS), Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS), and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Systems (HAPS) segments. The company supplies UAS, TMS, unmanned ground vehicle, and related services primarily to organizations within the U.S. Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and to international allied governments. It also designs, engineers, tools, and manufactures unmanned aerial and aircraft systems, including airborne platforms, payloads and payload integration, ground control systems, and ground support equipment and other items and services related to unmanned aircraft systems. In addition, the company offers small UAS products, including training, spare parts, product repair, product replacement, and the customer contracted operation. Further, it develops high-altitude pseudo-satellite UAS systems. AeroVironment, Inc. was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.