Head to Head Analysis: Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) & Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER)

Bridger Aerospace Group (NASDAQ:BAER) and Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, valuation and risk.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

48.9% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.6% of Virgin Galactic shares are held by institutional investors. 19.5% of Bridger Aerospace Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Virgin Galactic shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Bridger Aerospace Group and Virgin Galactic”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bridger Aerospace Group	$98.61 million	0.96	-$15.57 million	($0.52)	-3.27
Virgin Galactic	$1.66 million	109.04	-$346.74 million	($7.47)	-0.42

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

Volatility and Risk

Bridger Aerospace Group has a beta of 0.15, suggesting that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Virgin Galactic has a beta of 1.98, suggesting that its stock price is 98% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Bridger Aerospace Group and Virgin Galactic, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bridger Aerospace Group	1	0	1	0	2.00
Virgin Galactic	2	3	1	0	1.83

Bridger Aerospace Group currently has a consensus target price of $5.25, indicating a potential upside of 208.82%. Virgin Galactic has a consensus target price of $4.33, indicating a potential upside of 37.52%. Given Bridger Aerospace Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Bridger Aerospace Group is more favorable than Virgin Galactic.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bridger Aerospace Group	4.96%	-1.91%	2.23%
Virgin Galactic	-17,615.71%	-108.00%	-32.35%

Summary

Bridger Aerospace Group beats Virgin Galactic on 10 of the 13 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 Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc., an aerospace and space travel company, focuses on the development, manufacture, and operation of spaceships and related technologies. The company engages in the design and development, manufacturing, ground and flight testing, spaceflight operation, and post-flight maintenance of spaceflight systems for private individuals, researchers, and government agencies. Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Tustin, California.