Reviewing Frontier Group (NASDAQ:ULCC) and Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL)

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) and Frontier Group (NASDAQ:ULCC) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk and institutional ownership.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

93.3% of Bristow Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.4% of Bristow Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 48.0% of Frontier Group shares are owned 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.

Profitability

This table compares Bristow Group and Frontier Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bristow Group	9.71%	14.83%	6.43%
Frontier Group	-3.65%	-25.73%	-2.10%

Volatility and Risk

Bristow Group has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Frontier Group has a beta of 2.55, indicating that its share price is 155% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Bristow Group and Frontier Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bristow Group	0	0	2	0	3.00
Frontier Group	2	5	2	0	2.00

Frontier Group has a consensus target price of $6.38, suggesting a potential upside of 21.66%. Given Frontier Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Frontier Group is more favorable than Bristow Group.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Bristow Group and Frontier Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bristow Group	$1.42 billion	0.89	$94.80 million	$4.78	9.15
Frontier Group	$3.78 billion	0.32	$85.00 million	($0.61)	-8.59

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

Summary

Bristow Group beats Frontier Group on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bristow Group

Bristow Group Inc. provides vertical flight solutions. The company primarily offers aviation services to integrated, national, and independent offshore energy companies and government agencies. It also provides personnel transportation, search and rescue, medevac, ad hoc helicopter, fixed wing transportation, unmanned systems, and ad-hoc helicopter services, as well as logistical and maintenance support, training services, and flight and maintenance crews. The company has a fleet of aircrafts. It has customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the Dutch Caribbean, the Falkland Islands, India, Ireland, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Suriname, Trinidad, the United Kingdom, and United States. Bristow Group Inc. is based in Houston, Texas.

About Frontier Group

Frontier Group Holdings, Inc., provides low-fare passenger airline services to leisure travelers in the United States and Latin America. The company sells its products through direct distribution channels, including its website, mobile app, and contact centers. As of December 31, 2023, it had a fleet of 136 Airbus single-aisle aircrafts. Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.