Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB) vs. Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE) Critical Comparison

Astronics (OTCMKTS:ATROB) and Park Aerospace (NYSE:PKE) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and valuation.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astronics	-0.37%	29.65%	10.15%
Park Aerospace	11.57%	7.97%	7.01%

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Astronics and Park Aerospace, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astronics	0	0	0	0	0.00
Park Aerospace	0	0	1	0	3.00

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astronics	$795.43 million	2.45	-$16.22 million	($0.09)	-608.00
Park Aerospace	$62.03 million	6.58	$5.88 million	$0.36	56.93

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

Volatility and Risk

Astronics has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Park Aerospace has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.8% of Park Aerospace shares are held by institutional investors. 16.0% of Astronics shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Park Aerospace shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Park Aerospace beats Astronics on 8 of the 13 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 Park Aerospace

Park Aerospace Corp., an aerospace company, develops and manufactures solution and hot-melt advanced composite materials used to produce composite structures for the aerospace market in North America, Asia, and Europe. It offers advanced composite materials, including film adhesives and lightning strike protection materials that are used to produce primary and secondary structures for jet engines, large and regional transport aircrafts, military aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles, business jets, general aviation aircrafts, and rotary wing aircrafts. The company also provides specialty ablative materials for rocket motors and nozzles; and specially designed materials for radome applications. In addition, it designs and fabricates composite parts, structures and assemblies, and low volume tooling for the aerospace industry. The company was formerly known as Park Electrochemical Corp. and changed its name to Park Aerospace Corp. in July 2019. Park Aerospace Corp. was incorporated in 1954 and is based in Westbury, New York.