American Axle & Manufacturing (AXL) Competitors

Blue Bird (NASDAQ:BLBD) and American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) are both small-cap auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, dividends, media sentiment and analyst recommendations.

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of BLBD or AXL?

93.6% of Blue Bird shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.4% of American Axle & Manufacturing shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of Blue Bird shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of American Axle & Manufacturing shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is BLBD or AXL more profitable?

Blue Bird has a net margin of 8.16% compared to American Axle & Manufacturing's net margin of 0.73%. Blue Bird's return on equity of 61.66% beat American Axle & Manufacturing's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Blue Bird	8.16%	61.66%	21.26%
American Axle & Manufacturing	0.73%	8.90%	1.05%

Which has more risk & volatility, BLBD or AXL?

Blue Bird has a beta of 1.62, meaning that its stock price is 62% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Axle & Manufacturing has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its stock price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor BLBD or AXL?

In the previous week, Blue Bird had 11 more articles in the media than American Axle & Manufacturing. MarketBeat recorded 18 mentions for Blue Bird and 7 mentions for American Axle & Manufacturing. Blue Bird's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat American Axle & Manufacturing's score of 0.64 indicating that Blue Bird is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Blue Bird	12 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Axle & Manufacturing	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher valuation and earnings, BLBD or AXL?

Blue Bird has higher earnings, but lower revenue than American Axle & Manufacturing. Blue Bird is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Axle & Manufacturing, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Blue Bird	$1.35B	1.42	$105.55M	$3.50	17.19
American Axle & Manufacturing	$5.83B	0.13	$33.80M	$0.34	18.56

Do analysts recommend BLBD or AXL?

Blue Bird currently has a consensus target price of $58.79, suggesting a potential downside of 2.27%. American Axle & Manufacturing has a consensus target price of $6.75, suggesting a potential upside of 6.97%. Given American Axle & Manufacturing's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe American Axle & Manufacturing is more favorable than Blue Bird.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Blue Bird	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
American Axle & Manufacturing	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.43

Summary

Blue Bird beats American Axle & Manufacturing on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.