Reviewing Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) and Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB)

Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

71.8% of Rocket Lab shares are owned by institutional investors. 16.0% of Astronics shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.7% of Rocket Lab shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Astronics and Rocket Lab, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astronics	0	0	0	0	0.00
Rocket Lab	0	4	7	1	2.75

Rocket Lab has a consensus target price of $30.40, indicating a potential downside of 14.61%. Given Rocket Lab’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Rocket Lab is more favorable than Astronics.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Astronics and Rocket Lab”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astronics	$795.43 million	1.46	-$16.22 million	($0.12)	-272.52
Rocket Lab	$436.21 million	37.02	-$190.18 million	($0.40)	-89.00

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

Volatility and Risk

Astronics has a beta of 1.42, suggesting that its share price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocket Lab has a beta of 2.15, suggesting that its share price is 115% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astronics	-0.43%	18.45%	7.29%
Rocket Lab	-44.32%	-48.92%	-17.28%

Summary

Rocket Lab 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 Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA, Inc., a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets. It also designs, manufactures, and sells Electron, a reusable orbital-class small rocket; and the Photon satellite platforms, as well as developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle; conducts remote launch activities; and designs and manufactures a range of components and subsystems for the Photon family of spacecraft and broader merchant spacecraft components. The company serves commercial, aerospace prime contractors, and government customers. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.