General Dynamics (GD) Competitors

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) and General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, community ranking, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, media sentiment, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor GE or GD?

GE Aerospace received 1179 more outperform votes than General Dynamics when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.43% of users gave GE Aerospace an outperform vote while only 68.35% of users gave General Dynamics an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
GE Aerospace	Outperform Votes 2140 75.43%	Underperform Votes 697 24.57%
General Dynamics	Outperform Votes 961 68.35%	Underperform Votes 445 31.65%

Which has more volatility and risk, GE or GD?

GE Aerospace has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Dynamics has a beta of 0.49, meaning that its share price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, GE or GD?

GE Aerospace has higher earnings, but lower revenue than General Dynamics. General Dynamics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GE Aerospace, 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
GE Aerospace	$39.68B	6.31	$6.56B	$6.43	36.54
General Dynamics	$49.21B	1.53	$3.78B	$14.42	19.51

Is GE or GD a better dividend stock?

GE Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. General Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $6.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. GE Aerospace pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. General Dynamics pays out 41.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. GE Aerospace has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and General Dynamics has increased its dividend for 34 consecutive years. General Dynamics is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of GE or GD?

74.8% of GE Aerospace shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.1% of General Dynamics shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of GE Aerospace shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of General Dynamics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor GE or GD?

In the previous week, GE Aerospace had 29 more articles in the media than General Dynamics. MarketBeat recorded 69 mentions for GE Aerospace and 40 mentions for General Dynamics. General Dynamics' average media sentiment score of 1.13 beat GE Aerospace's score of 1.08 indicating that General Dynamics is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GE Aerospace	45 Very Positive mention(s)	11 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
General Dynamics	27 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend GE or GD?

GE Aerospace presently has a consensus price target of $216.92, suggesting a potential downside of 7.66%. General Dynamics has a consensus price target of $293.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.13%. Given General Dynamics' higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe General Dynamics is more favorable than GE Aerospace.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GE Aerospace	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
General Dynamics	1 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.32

Is GE or GD more profitable?

GE Aerospace has a net margin of 14.31% compared to General Dynamics' net margin of 7.93%. GE Aerospace's return on equity of 22.19% beat General Dynamics' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GE Aerospace	14.31%	22.19%	3.66%
General Dynamics	7.93%	17.10%	6.76%

Summary

GE Aerospace beats General Dynamics on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.