JetBlue Airways Corporation (NASDAQ: JBLU) and Era Group (NYSE:ERA) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.
Profitability
This table compares JetBlue Airways Corporation and Era Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| JetBlue Airways Corporation | 9.78% | 16.75% | 6.99% |
| Era Group | -6.20% | -3.13% | -1.53% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for JetBlue Airways Corporation and Era Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| JetBlue Airways Corporation | 1 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 2.23 |
| Era Group | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
JetBlue Airways Corporation currently has a consensus target price of $25.70, indicating a potential upside of 17.78%. Given JetBlue Airways Corporation’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe JetBlue Airways Corporation is more favorable than Era Group.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
85.8% of JetBlue Airways Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.1% of Era Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of JetBlue Airways Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.5% of Era Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares JetBlue Airways Corporation and Era Group’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| JetBlue Airways Corporation | $6.82 billion | 1.05 | $1.54 billion | $1.97 | 11.08 |
| Era Group | $233.70 million | 0.77 | $37.33 million | N/A | N/A |
JetBlue Airways Corporation has higher revenue and earnings than Era Group.
Volatility & Risk
JetBlue Airways Corporation has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its share price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Era Group has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its share price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
JetBlue Airways Corporation beats Era Group on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
JetBlue Airways Corporation Company Profile
JetBlue Airways Corporation is a passenger carrier company. The Company provides air transportation services across the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America. Its segments include Domestic, and Caribbean & Latin America. It operates various kinds of aircrafts, including Airbus A321, Airbus A320 and Embraer E190. It also provides premium transcontinental product called Mint. As of December 31, 2016, Mint included 16 fully lie-flat seats, four of which were in suites with a privacy door. The Company also provides Fly-Fi in-flight Internet service across its Airbus fleet. It provides its customers a choice to purchase tickets from three branded fares, which include Blue, Blue Plus and Blue Flex. Each of these fare include different offerings, such as free checked bags, reduced change fees and additional TrueBlue points. As of December 31, 2016, its Airbus A321 aircraft in a single cabin layout had 200 seats and those with Mint premium service had a seating capacity of 159 seats.
Era Group Company Profile
Era Group Inc. is engaged in operating helicopters. The Company’s helicopters transport personnel to, from and between offshore oil and gas production platforms, drilling rigs and other installations. The Company also dry-leases helicopters to third-party helicopter operators and foreign affiliates. The primary users of the Company’s helicopter services are international, integrated and independent oil and gas exploration, development and production companies. In addition to serving the oil and gas industry, it provides air medical services; utility services, including support of firefighting, mining, power line and pipeline survey activities, and Alaska flightseeing tours, among other activities. It owns and operates a range of classes of helicopters, such as Heavy helicopters, Medium helicopters and Light helicopters. Heavy helicopters have twin engines and passenger capacity ranging from 16 to 19. Medium helicopters have twin engines and passenger capacity ranging from 11 to 12.
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