Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

Honeywell International (NASDAQ:HON) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE:NOC) are both large-cap multi-sector conglomerates companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, community ranking, dividends, profitability, earnings, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor HON or NOC?

Honeywell International received 526 more outperform votes than Northrop Grumman when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.41% of users gave Honeywell International an outperform vote while only 62.21% of users gave Northrop Grumman an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Honeywell International	Outperform Votes 1201 74.41%	Underperform Votes 413 25.59%
Northrop Grumman	Outperform Votes 675 62.21%	Underperform Votes 410 37.79%

Is HON or NOC a better dividend stock?

Honeywell International pays an annual dividend of $4.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $8.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Honeywell International pays out 51.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northrop Grumman pays out 29.1% 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. Honeywell International has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Northrop Grumman has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Which has better earnings & valuation, HON or NOC?

Honeywell International has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Honeywell International, 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
Honeywell International	$38.50B	3.58	$5.71B	$8.71	24.32
Northrop Grumman	$41.03B	1.75	$4.17B	$28.34	17.48

Which has more risk & volatility, HON or NOC?

Honeywell International has a beta of 1.08, meaning that its share price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.31, meaning that its share price is 69% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts recommend HON or NOC?

Honeywell International presently has a consensus target price of $249.38, indicating a potential upside of 17.72%. Northrop Grumman has a consensus target price of $542.88, indicating a potential upside of 9.62%. Given Honeywell International's higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Honeywell International is more favorable than Northrop Grumman.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Honeywell International	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Northrop Grumman	0 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.56

Is HON or NOC more profitable?

Honeywell International has a net margin of 14.82% compared to Northrop Grumman's net margin of 10.17%. Honeywell International's return on equity of 35.78% beat Northrop Grumman's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Honeywell International	14.82%	35.78%	9.04%
Northrop Grumman	10.17%	26.24%	7.96%

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

75.9% of Honeywell International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 83.4% of Northrop Grumman shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Honeywell International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Northrop Grumman shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor HON or NOC?

In the previous week, Honeywell International had 3 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for Honeywell International and 36 mentions for Northrop Grumman. Honeywell International's average media sentiment score of 1.49 beat Northrop Grumman's score of 1.19 indicating that Honeywell International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Honeywell International	36 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northrop Grumman	28 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Honeywell International beats Northrop Grumman on 14 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.