Comparing Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) & American Defense Systems (OTCMKTS:ADFS)

American Defense Systems (OTCMKTS:ADFS) and Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) are both aerospace companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

American Defense Systems has a beta of 8.37, indicating that its stock price is 737% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astronics has a beta of 1.68, indicating that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for American Defense Systems and Astronics, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Defense Systems	0	0	0	0	0.00
Astronics	1	0	1	1	2.67

Astronics has a consensus price target of $49.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.75%. Given Astronics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Astronics is more favorable than American Defense Systems.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares American Defense Systems and Astronics”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Defense Systems	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Astronics	$822.85 million	2.03	-$16.22 million	($0.12)	-393.58

American Defense Systems has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Astronics.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

56.7% of Astronics shares are held by institutional investors. 19.3% of American Defense Systems shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.4% of Astronics shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares American Defense Systems and Astronics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Defense Systems	N/A	N/A	N/A
Astronics	-0.45%	22.89%	9.16%

Summary

Astronics beats American Defense Systems on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Defense Systems

American Defense Systems, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design and supply of transparent and opaque armor solutions for military and commercial applications. It offers crew protection kits that provide armor protection of operator compartments; VistaSteel transparent armor, a laminated glass that provides defensive barrier to protect against firearms, physical attack, and explosive blasts; VistaSteel opaque armors; lightweight armor systems; and VistaGuard windows, which are forced entry blast resistant windows, window frames, and transparent armor assemblies used to mitigate forced entry, ballistic, and terrorist threats in high visibility targets. The company also provides portable transparent ballistic shield, a bullet-resistant transparent mobile shield; heated ballistic ship windows; and hardware products, such as hinges, rotary and slam latches, combat locks, and egress windows. Its armor solutions for construction equipment, and tactical and non-tactical transport vehicles are designed to protect their occupants from landmines, hostile fire, and improvised explosive devices. In addition, the company offers engineering and consulting services; and develops and installs detention and security hardware, entry control and monitoring systems, intrusion detection systems, and security glass. Its products are used in transport and fighting vehicles, construction equipment, sea craft, and various fixed structures, which require ballistic and blast attenuation. American Defense Systems, Inc. serves various branches of the United States military, including the United States Department of Defense; and other United States government, law enforcement, and correctional agencies, as well as private sector customers. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Lillington, North Carolina.

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.