Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) and GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, institutional ownership, community ranking and earnings.

Which has more volatility and risk, NOC or GE?

Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.15, suggesting that its stock price is 85% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, GE Aerospace has a beta of 1.31, suggesting that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NOC or GE a better dividend stock?

Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $8.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. GE Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Northrop Grumman pays out 32.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. GE Aerospace pays out 22.4% 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. Northrop Grumman has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years and GE Aerospace has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Northrop Grumman is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is NOC or GE more profitable?

GE Aerospace has a net margin of 14.31% compared to Northrop Grumman's net margin of 10.17%. Northrop Grumman's return on equity of 26.24% beat GE Aerospace's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northrop Grumman	10.17%	26.24%	7.96%
GE Aerospace	14.31%	22.19%	3.66%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NOC or GE?

GE Aerospace has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman 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
Northrop Grumman	$40.37B	1.68	$4.17B	$25.34	18.60
GE Aerospace	$39.68B	6.23	$6.56B	$6.43	36.07

Do institutionals & insiders believe in NOC or GE?

83.4% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.8% of GE Aerospace shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Northrop Grumman shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of GE Aerospace shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend NOC or GE?

Northrop Grumman currently has a consensus target price of $545.31, suggesting a potential upside of 15.67%. GE Aerospace has a consensus target price of $216.92, suggesting a potential downside of 6.47%. Given Northrop Grumman's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Northrop Grumman is more favorable than GE Aerospace.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northrop Grumman	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.61
GE Aerospace	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NOC or GE?

GE Aerospace received 1458 more outperform votes than Northrop Grumman when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.43% of users gave GE Aerospace an outperform vote while only 62.28% of users gave Northrop Grumman an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northrop Grumman	Outperform Votes 682 62.28%	Underperform Votes 413 37.72%
GE Aerospace	Outperform Votes 2140 75.43%	Underperform Votes 697 24.57%

Does the media refer more to NOC or GE?

In the previous week, GE Aerospace had 21 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 63 mentions for GE Aerospace and 42 mentions for Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman's average media sentiment score of 1.06 beat GE Aerospace's score of 1.06 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	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
GE Aerospace	40 Very Positive mention(s)	10 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Northrop Grumman and GE Aerospace tied by winning 11 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.