Virgin Galactic (SPCE) Competitors

Virgin Galactic (NYSE:SPCE) and Ardmore Shipping (NYSE:ASC) are both small-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, media sentiment, profitability, analyst recommendations, community ranking and risk.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of SPCE or ASC?

46.6% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.2% of Ardmore Shipping shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Virgin Galactic shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer SPCE or ASC?

Ardmore Shipping received 304 more outperform votes than Virgin Galactic when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 63.81% of users gave Ardmore Shipping an outperform vote while only 63.39% of users gave Virgin Galactic an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Virgin Galactic	Outperform Votes 142 63.39%	Underperform Votes 82 36.61%
Ardmore Shipping	Outperform Votes 446 63.81%	Underperform Votes 253 36.19%

Does the media refer more to SPCE or ASC?

In the previous week, Virgin Galactic had 18 more articles in the media than Ardmore Shipping. MarketBeat recorded 20 mentions for Virgin Galactic and 2 mentions for Ardmore Shipping. Ardmore Shipping's average media sentiment score of 0.43 beat Virgin Galactic's score of 0.00 indicating that Ardmore Shipping is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Virgin Galactic	2 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Ardmore Shipping	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts recommend SPCE or ASC?

Virgin Galactic presently has a consensus price target of $13.06, indicating a potential upside of 240.61%. Ardmore Shipping has a consensus price target of $13.67, indicating a potential upside of 31.98%. Given Virgin Galactic's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Virgin Galactic is more favorable than Ardmore Shipping.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Virgin Galactic	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Ardmore Shipping	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more risk and volatility, SPCE or ASC?

Virgin Galactic has a beta of 2.1, meaning that its share price is 110% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ardmore Shipping has a beta of -0.02, meaning that its share price is 102% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is SPCE or ASC more profitable?

Ardmore Shipping has a net margin of 32.78% compared to Virgin Galactic's net margin of -3,975.27%. Ardmore Shipping's return on equity of 20.48% beat Virgin Galactic's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Virgin Galactic	-3,975.27%	-88.09%	-34.21%
Ardmore Shipping	32.78%	20.48%	17.25%

Which has higher earnings and valuation, SPCE or ASC?

Ardmore Shipping has higher revenue and earnings than Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ardmore Shipping, 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
Virgin Galactic	$5.51M	24.72	-$502.34M	-$11.93	-0.32
Ardmore Shipping	$405.78M	1.04	$133.01M	$2.28	4.54

Summary

Ardmore Shipping beats Virgin Galactic on 14 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.