Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer GE or NOC?

GE Aerospace received 1458 more outperform votes than Northrop Grumman when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.46% of users gave GE Aerospace an outperform vote while only 62.28% of users gave Northrop Grumman an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
GE Aerospace	Outperform Votes 2140 75.46%	Underperform Votes 696 24.54%
Northrop Grumman	Outperform Votes 682 62.28%	Underperform Votes 413 37.72%

Does the media favor GE or NOC?

In the previous week, GE Aerospace had 27 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 61 mentions for GE Aerospace and 34 mentions for Northrop Grumman. GE Aerospace's average media sentiment score of 0.98 beat Northrop Grumman's score of 0.84 indicating that GE Aerospace is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
GE Aerospace	36 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	17 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northrop Grumman	22 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, GE or NOC?

GE Aerospace has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
GE Aerospace	$39.68B	5.47	$6.56B	$6.43	31.68
Northrop Grumman	$40.37B	1.74	$4.17B	$25.34	19.22

Do analysts recommend GE or NOC?

GE Aerospace presently has a consensus price target of $216.92, suggesting a potential upside of 6.48%. Northrop Grumman has a consensus price target of $545.31, suggesting a potential upside of 11.97%. Given Northrop Grumman's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Northrop Grumman is more favorable than GE Aerospace.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GE Aerospace	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Northrop Grumman	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.61

Which has more volatility & risk, GE or NOC?

GE Aerospace has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.2, meaning that its share price is 80% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GE or NOC a better dividend stock?

GE Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.7%. Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $8.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. GE Aerospace pays out 22.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northrop Grumman pays out 32.5% 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 raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Northrop Grumman is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Is GE or NOC 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
GE Aerospace	14.31%	22.19%	3.66%
Northrop Grumman	10.17%	26.24%	7.96%

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

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

Summary

GE Aerospace beats Northrop Grumman on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.