Reviewing CAE (NYSE:CAE) and Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO)

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astronics	1	0	3	2	3.00
CAE	0	5	4	2	2.73

Astronics currently has a consensus target price of $77.33, suggesting a potential downside of 4.08%. CAE has a consensus target price of $34.33, suggesting a potential upside of 15.72%. Given CAE’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe CAE is more favorable than Astronics.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Astronics and CAE”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astronics	$862.13 million	3.33	-$16.22 million	$0.77	104.70
CAE	$3.28 billion	2.91	$291.29 million	$0.83	35.75

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astronics	3.41%	36.45%	11.85%
CAE	7.70%	7.75%	3.57%

Volatility & Risk

Astronics has a beta of 1.1, suggesting that its stock price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CAE has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.7% of Astronics shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of CAE shares are held by institutional investors. 9.4% of Astronics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of CAE shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

CAE beats Astronics on 9 of the 14 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 CAE

CAE Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides simulation training and critical operations support solutions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the Oceania, Africa, and Rest of the Americas. It operates through two segments, Civil Aviation; and Defense and Security. The Civil Aviation segment offers training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; a range of flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services, as well as aircraft flight operations solutions. The Defense and Security segment operates as a training and simulation provider that delivers platform-independent solutions to enable and enhance force readiness and security for defense forces, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), government agencies, and public safety organizations. The company was formerly known as CAE Industries Ltd. and changed its name to CAE Inc. in 1993. CAE Inc. was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.