Head to Head Survey: AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) versus Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC)

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) and Astrotech (NASDAQ:ASTC) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

86.4% of AeroVironment shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 24.4% of Astrotech shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of AeroVironment shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 16.8% of Astrotech shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AeroVironment	$820.63 million	11.25	$43.62 million	($4.34)	-42.62
Astrotech	$1.05 million	4.98	-$13.85 million	($8.34)	-0.36

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

Volatility and Risk

AeroVironment has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Astrotech has a beta of -0.25, indicating that its stock price is 125% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for AeroVironment and Astrotech, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AeroVironment	2	2	18	2	2.83
Astrotech	1	0	0	0	1.00

AeroVironment presently has a consensus target price of $318.78, suggesting a potential upside of 72.34%. Given AeroVironment’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe AeroVironment is more favorable than Astrotech.

Profitability

This table compares AeroVironment and Astrotech’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%
Astrotech	-1,163.89%	-68.53%	-57.30%

Summary

AeroVironment beats Astrotech on 13 of the 15 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 Astrotech

Astrotech Corporation operates as a mass spectrometry company worldwide. It owns and licenses the intellectual property related to the Astrotech Mass Spectrometer Technology, a platform mass spectrometry technology. The company also develops TRACER 1000, a mass spectrometer-based explosive trace detector to replace the explosives trace detectors used at airports, cargo and other secured facilities, and borders. In addition, it develops AgLAB-1000, a mass spectrometer for use in the hemp and cannabis market. Further, the company develops BreathTest-1000, a breath analysis tool to screen for volatile organic compound metabolites found in a person's breath. The company was formerly known as SPACEHAB, Inc. and changed its name to Astrotech Corporation in 2009. The company was incorporated in 1984 and is based in Austin, Texas.