Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) & Dassault Aviation société anonyme (OTCMKTS:DUAVF) Head-To-Head Analysis

Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) and Dassault Aviation société anonyme (OTCMKTS:DUAVF) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Smith & Wesson Brands and Dassault Aviation société anonyme, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Smith & Wesson Brands	0	0	2	0	3.00
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	0	1	0	0	2.00

Smith & Wesson Brands presently has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.45%. Given Smith & Wesson Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Smith & Wesson Brands is more favorable than Dassault Aviation société anonyme.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Smith & Wesson Brands and Dassault Aviation société anonyme’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Smith & Wesson Brands	$479.24 million	1.63	$36.88 million	$0.57	29.67
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A	$53.82	4.08

Smith & Wesson Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Dassault Aviation société anonyme. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smith & Wesson Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Smith & Wesson Brands and Dassault Aviation société anonyme’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Smith & Wesson Brands	5.05%	9.44%	6.45%
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A

Dividends

Smith & Wesson Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Dassault Aviation société anonyme pays an annual dividend of $8.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Smith & Wesson Brands pays out 84.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Dassault Aviation société anonyme pays out 16.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Smith & Wesson Brands has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

59.3% of Smith & Wesson Brands shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.7% of Dassault Aviation société anonyme shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Smith & Wesson Brands shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Smith & Wesson Brands beats Dassault Aviation société anonyme on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells firearms worldwide. The company offers handguns, including revolvers and pistols; long guns, such as modern sporting rifles, bolt action rifles; handcuffs; suppressors; and other firearm-related products under the Smith & Wesson, M&P, and Gemtech brands. It also provides manufacturing services comprising forging, heat treating, rapid prototyping, tooling, finishing, plating, machining, and custom plastic injection molding to other businesses under the Smith & Wesson and Smith & Wesson Precision Components brand names; and sells parts purchased through third parties. The company sells its products to firearm enthusiasts, collectors, hunters, sportsmen, competitive shooters, individuals desiring home and personal protection, law enforcement, security agencies and officers, and military agencies. It markets its products through independent dealers, retailers, in-store retails, and direct to consumers; print, broadcast, and digital advertising campaigns; social and electronic media; and in-store retail merchandising strategies. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. was founded in 1852 and is based in Springfield, Massachusetts.

About Dassault Aviation société anonyme

Dassault Aviation société anonyme designs and manufactures military aircraft, business jets, and space systems in France, the Americas, and internationally. It offers Rafale, a multirole fighter aircraft; nEUROn, an unmanned combat drone; falcon business jets; and falcon aircraft for maritime surveillance, intelligence, and medical evacuation missions. The company operates a fleet of 2,100 Falcon jets and 1,000 military aircraft. In addition, it provides aviation maintenance and training services; repair and maintenance services of landing gears and flight controls; overhaul and repair services for civil aviation equipment; airport services; leases and manages Falcon aircraft as part of public passenger transport activity; and designs, produces, and distributes simulation tools. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is a subsidiary of Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault S.A.