Financial Analysis: Butler National (OTCMKTS:BUKS) and Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER)

Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER) and Butler National (OTCMKTS:BUKS) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Bridger Aerospace Group and Butler National, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridger Aerospace Group	1	1	3	0	2.40
Butler National	0	0	0	0	0.00

Bridger Aerospace Group currently has a consensus target price of $4.12, indicating a potential upside of 113.30%. Given Bridger Aerospace Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Bridger Aerospace Group is more favorable than Butler National.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

48.9% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.0% of Butler National shares are held by institutional investors. 16.4% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of Butler National shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Bridger Aerospace Group has a beta of 0.35, suggesting that its share price is 65% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Butler National has a beta of 0.2, suggesting that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bridger Aerospace Group and Butler National’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridger Aerospace Group	-10.05%	-1.21%	-3.77%
Butler National	21.45%	28.47%	15.08%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bridger Aerospace Group and Butler National”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridger Aerospace Group	$122.83 million	0.88	$4.14 million	($0.84)	-2.30
Butler National	$83.97 million	4.05	$12.55 million	$0.30	14.17

Butler National has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Bridger Aerospace Group. Bridger Aerospace Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Butler National, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Butler National beats Bridger Aerospace Group on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bridger Aerospace Group

Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings, Inc. provides aerial wildfire management, relief and suppression, and firefighting services to federal and state government agencies in the United States. It offers fire suppression services, such as direct fire suppression aerial firefighting support services for ground crew to drop large amounts of water quickly and directly on wildfires. The company also provides aerial surveillance services, including fire suppression aircraft over an incident and tactical coordination with the incident commander through its manned and unmanned aircraft. It operates an aircraft fleet of 18 planes. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Belgrade, Montana.

About Butler National

Butler National Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, engineers, manufactures, sells, integrates, installs, repairs, modifies, overhauls, services, and distributes a portfolio of aerostructures, aircraft components, avionics, accessories, subassemblies, and systems in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Aerospace Products and Professional Services. The Aerospace Products segment provides aircraft modifications to business-size aircraft, which include passenger-to-freighter configuration, radar systems, addition of aerial photography capabilities, search and rescue, environmental research, mapping, intelligence surveillance reconnaissance modifications, and stability enhancing modifications for Learjet, Beechcraft, and Cessna aircraft along with other specialized modifications. This segment manufactures, sells, and services electronics for weapon control systems that are used on government aircraft and vehicles; and sells, installs, and repairs aircraft avionics equipment, including airplane radio equipment and flight control systems, as well as troubleshoots and repairs autopilot systems. Its Professional Services segment manages Boot Hill Casino and Resort, a gaming, dining, and entertainment facility in Dodge City, Kansas. The company acquires, refurbishes, and sells airplanes, primarily Learjets; owns properties; and operates a management consulting and administrative services firm that provides business planning and financial coordination to Indian tribes interested in owning and operating casinos. It serves the aviation industry, including owners and operators of private and commercial business and government aircraft and suppliers. Butler National Corporation was incorporated in 1960 and is headquartered in New Century, Kansas.