Financial Comparison: Dassault Aviation société anonyme (OTCMKTS:DUAVF) & Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI)

Dassault Aviation société anonyme (OTCMKTS:DUAVF) and Smith & Wesson Brands (NASDAQ:SWBI) are both industrials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.

Dividends

Dassault Aviation société anonyme pays an annual dividend of $8.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Smith & Wesson Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Dassault Aviation société anonyme pays out 16.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Smith & Wesson Brands pays out 84.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Smith & Wesson Brands has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Dassault Aviation société anonyme and Smith & Wesson Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	0	1	0	0	2.00
Smith & Wesson Brands	0	0	2	0	3.00

Smith & Wesson Brands has a consensus price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.45%. Given Smith & Wesson Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Smith & Wesson Brands is more favorable than Dassault Aviation société anonyme.

Profitability

This table compares Dassault Aviation société anonyme and Smith & Wesson Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A
Smith & Wesson Brands	5.05%	9.44%	6.45%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Dassault Aviation société anonyme and Smith & Wesson Brands’ gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Dassault Aviation société anonyme	N/A	N/A	N/A	$53.82	4.08
Smith & Wesson Brands	$479.24 million	1.63	$36.88 million	$0.57	29.67

Smith & Wesson Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Dassault Aviation société anonyme. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Smith & Wesson Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.7% of Dassault Aviation société anonyme shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.3% of Smith & Wesson Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Smith & Wesson Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Smith & Wesson Brands beats Dassault Aviation société anonyme on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Dassault Aviation société anonyme

Dassault Aviation société anonyme designs and manufactures military aircraft, business jets, and space systems in France, the Americas, and internationally. It offers Rafale, a multirole fighter aircraft; nEUROn, an unmanned combat drone; falcon business jets; and falcon aircraft for maritime surveillance, intelligence, and medical evacuation missions. The company operates a fleet of 2,100 Falcon jets and 1,000 military aircraft. In addition, it provides aviation maintenance and training services; repair and maintenance services of landing gears and flight controls; overhaul and repair services for civil aviation equipment; airport services; leases and manages Falcon aircraft as part of public passenger transport activity; and designs, produces, and distributes simulation tools. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Dassault Aviation société anonyme is a subsidiary of Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault S.A.

About Smith & Wesson Brands

Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells firearms worldwide. The company offers handguns, including revolvers and pistols; long guns, such as modern sporting rifles, bolt action rifles; handcuffs; suppressors; and other firearm-related products under the Smith & Wesson, M&P, and Gemtech brands. It also provides manufacturing services comprising forging, heat treating, rapid prototyping, tooling, finishing, plating, machining, and custom plastic injection molding to other businesses under the Smith & Wesson and Smith & Wesson Precision Components brand names; and sells parts purchased through third parties. The company sells its products to firearm enthusiasts, collectors, hunters, sportsmen, competitive shooters, individuals desiring home and personal protection, law enforcement, security agencies and officers, and military agencies. It markets its products through independent dealers, retailers, in-store retails, and direct to consumers; print, broadcast, and digital advertising campaigns; social and electronic media; and in-store retail merchandising strategies. Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. was founded in 1852 and is based in Springfield, Massachusetts.