Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:MESA – Get Free Report) and Saker Aviation Services (OTCMKTS:SKAS – Get Free Report) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Mesa Air Group and Saker Aviation Services, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Mesa Air Group | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Saker Aviation Services | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Mesa Air Group and Saker Aviation Services”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Mesa Air Group | $476.41 million | 0.12 | -$91.01 million | ($4.29) | -0.33 |
| Saker Aviation Services | $9.17 million | 0.76 | $1.25 million | $0.31 | 22.58 |
Saker Aviation Services has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Mesa Air Group. Mesa Air Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Saker Aviation Services, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
13.3% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.3% of Saker Aviation Services shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.6% of Mesa Air Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 34.6% of Saker Aviation Services shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares Mesa Air Group and Saker Aviation Services’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Mesa Air Group | -43.65% | -1,171.23% | -2.14% |
| Saker Aviation Services | 6.08% | 3.44% | 3.15% |
Volatility & Risk
Mesa Air Group has a beta of 3.03, indicating that its stock price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Saker Aviation Services has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Saker Aviation Services beats Mesa Air Group on 9 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Mesa Air Group
Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc. that provides regional air carrier scheduled passenger services. The company offers scheduled flight and cargo services. As of September 30, 2023, it operated a fleet of 80 aircraft with approximately 296 daily departures to 86 cities in the United States and Mexico. Mesa Air Group, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
About Saker Aviation Services
Saker Aviation Services, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates in the aviation services segment of the general aviation industry in the United States. It serves as the operator of a Downtown Manhattan (New York) Heliport. The company was formerly known as FirstFlight, Inc. and changed its name to Saker Aviation Services, Inc. in September 2009. Saker Aviation Services, Inc. is headquartered in New York, New York.
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