AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) vs. Rheinmetall (OTCMKTS:RNMBY) Financial Contrast

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Rheinmetall (OTCMKTS:RNMBY) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for AeroVironment and Rheinmetall, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AeroVironment	2	2	18	1	2.78
Rheinmetall	1	0	5	1	2.86

AeroVironment currently has a consensus price target of $318.78, suggesting a potential upside of 66.53%. Given AeroVironment’s higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe AeroVironment is more favorable than Rheinmetall.

Volatility and Risk

AeroVironment has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its share price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rheinmetall has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AeroVironment	$820.63 million	11.65	$43.62 million	($4.34)	-44.11
Rheinmetall	$11.24 billion	7.31	$787.27 million	$2.52	140.48

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AeroVironment	-13.93%	3.26%	2.56%
Rheinmetall	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Summary

AeroVironment beats Rheinmetall on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall AG provides mobility and security technologies worldwide. The company operates in five segments: Vehicle Systems, Weapon and Ammunition, Electronic Solutions, Sensors and Actuators, and Materials and Trade. The Vehicle Systems segment offers combat, logistics, support, and special vehicles, including armored tracked vehicles, CBRN protection systems, artillery, turret systems, and wheeled logistics and tactical vehicles. The Weapon and Ammunition segment provides firepower and protection solutions, such as weapons and munition, protection systems, propellants and international projects and services. The Electronic Solutions segment offers a chain of systems network, such as sensors, networking platforms, automated connected effectors for soldiers, and cyberspace protection solutions, and training and simulation solutions. Its products include air defense systems; soldier systems; command, control, and reconnaissance systems; fire control systems; sensors; and simulations for the army, air force, navy, and civil applications. The Sensors and Actuators segment provides a portfolio of products comprising exhaust gas recirculation systems; throttle valves, control dampers, and exhaust flaps for electromotors; solenoid valves; actuators and valve train systems; oil, water, and vacuum pumps for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and light and heavy-duty off-road applications; and industrial solutions. The Materials and Trade segment develops system components for the basic motors, such as engine blocks, structural components, and cylinder heads; plain bearings, and bushes; and replacement parts. It also engages in the aftermarket activities. The company was formerly known as Rheinmetall Berlin AG and changed its name to Rheinmetall AG in 1996. Rheinmetall AG was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany.