Financial Contrast: Air Canada (OTCMKTS:ACDVF) versus Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL)

Air Canada (OTCMKTS:ACDVF) and Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Air Canada has a beta of 1.98, suggesting that its share price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bristow Group has a beta of 1.32, suggesting that its share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.3% of Bristow Group shares are held by institutional investors. 13.4% of Bristow Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Air Canada and Bristow Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Air Canada	$16.24 billion	0.26	$1.26 billion	$2.74	5.21
Bristow Group	$1.42 billion	0.77	$94.80 million	$4.01	9.46

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Air Canada and Bristow Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Air Canada	1	1	1	1	2.50
Bristow Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Air Canada and Bristow Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Air Canada	6.83%	45.69%	3.62%
Bristow Group	8.24%	12.86%	5.49%

About Air Canada

Air Canada provides domestic, U.S. transborder, and international airline services. The company provides scheduled passenger services under the Air Canada Vacations and Air Canada Rouge brand names in the Canadian market, the Canada-U.S. transborder market, and in the international market to and from Canada, as well as through capacity purchase agreements on other regional carriers. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 203 aircraft under the Air Canada brand name comprising 115 Airbus narrow-body aircraft, and 88 Airbus wide-body aircraft; 118 aircraft under the Air Canada Express brand name, including 25 Embraer 175, 15 Mitsubishi CRJ-200, 35 Mitsubishi CRJ-900, and 43 De Havilland Dash 8-400aircraft; and 40 aircraft under the Air Canada Rouge brand name consisting of 17 Airbus A321 aircraft, 5 Airbus A320 aircraft, and 18 Airbus A319 aircraft. The company provides air cargo services in approximately 50 countries, including Toronto, Halifax, St. John's, Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, Quito, Lima, San Juan, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Bogotá, Madrid, Frankfurt, Basel, and Liege. In addition, it develops, operates, markets, and distributes vacation travel packages in the Caribbean, Mexico, the United States, Europe, Central and South America, South Pacific, Australia, and Asia; offers cruise packages in North America, Europe, and the Caribbean; and provides travel loyalty programs. Air Canada was founded in 1937 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.

About Bristow Group

Bristow Group Inc. provides vertical flight solutions. The company primarily offers aviation services to integrated, national, and independent offshore energy companies and government agencies. It also provides personnel transportation, search and rescue, medevac, ad hoc helicopter, fixed wing transportation, unmanned systems, and ad-hoc helicopter services, as well as logistical and maintenance support, training services, and flight and maintenance crews. The company has a fleet of aircrafts. It has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, India, Ireland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, and United States. Bristow Group Inc. is based in Houston, Texas.