Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) and Boeing (NYSE:BA) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends, media sentiment, risk, valuation and profitability.

Is NOC or BA more profitable?

Northrop Grumman has a net margin of 9.74% compared to Boeing's net margin of -16.58%. Northrop Grumman's return on equity of 25.52% beat Boeing's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northrop Grumman	9.74%	25.52%	7.89%
Boeing	-16.58%	N/A	-8.57%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, NOC or BA?

Northrop Grumman has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Boeing. Boeing is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Northrop Grumman, 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
Northrop Grumman	$40.50B	2.02	$4.17B	$27.13	21.10
Boeing	$66.52B	2.57	-$11.82B	-$17.92	-12.64

Which has more volatility and risk, NOC or BA?

Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.15, suggesting that its share price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Boeing has a beta of 1.41, suggesting that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend NOC or BA?

Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus target price of $586.79, suggesting a potential upside of 2.49%. Boeing has a consensus target price of $223.59, suggesting a potential downside of 1.26%. Given Northrop Grumman's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Northrop Grumman is more favorable than Boeing.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northrop Grumman	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56
Boeing	3 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	17 Buy rating(s)	3 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in NOC or BA?

83.4% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.8% of Boeing shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Boeing shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media favor NOC or BA?

In the previous week, Boeing had 95 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 138 mentions for Boeing and 43 mentions for Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman's average media sentiment score of 1.01 beat Boeing's score of 0.49 indicating that Northrop Grumman is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northrop Grumman	28 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Boeing	58 Very Positive mention(s)	15 Positive mention(s)	31 Neutral mention(s)	18 Negative mention(s)	13 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Summary

Northrop Grumman beats Boeing on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.