Head to Head Analysis: Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) and SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW)

Bristow Group (NYSE:VTOL) and SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bristow Group	7.51%	11.10%	4.95%
SkyWest	10.42%	15.55%	5.73%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Bristow Group and SkyWest”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bristow Group	$1.49 billion	0.85	$129.07 million	$3.84	11.13
SkyWest	$4.06 billion	0.83	$428.33 million	$10.43	8.13

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.3% of Bristow Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.3% of SkyWest shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.4% of Bristow Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of SkyWest shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Bristow Group has a beta of 1.29, indicating that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SkyWest has a beta of 1.48, indicating that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Bristow Group and SkyWest, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bristow Group	1	0	3	0	2.50
SkyWest	0	3	2	1	2.67

Bristow Group presently has a consensus price target of $60.00, indicating a potential upside of 40.44%. SkyWest has a consensus price target of $117.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.94%. Given Bristow Group’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Bristow Group is more favorable than SkyWest.

Summary

SkyWest beats Bristow Group on 9 of the 15 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 SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc. is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. ExpressJet Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Based in St. George, Utah, SkyWest employs nearly 17,000 employees.