Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

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

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 1.37, suggesting that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is NOC or GE more profitable?

GE Aerospace has a net margin of 17.63% compared to Northrop Grumman's net margin of 9.19%. GE Aerospace's return on equity of 29.15% beat Northrop Grumman's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northrop Grumman	9.19%	25.46%	7.79%
GE Aerospace	17.63%	29.15%	4.51%

Is NOC or GE a better dividend stock?

Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $9.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. GE Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Northrop Grumman pays out 36.5% 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 22 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.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, 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	$41.03B	1.77	$4.17B	$25.34	19.87
GE Aerospace	$38.70B	6.80	$6.56B	$6.43	38.38

Do analysts recommend NOC or GE?

Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus price target of $552.54, suggesting a potential upside of 9.76%. GE Aerospace has a consensus price target of $223.75, suggesting a potential downside of 9.33%. Given Northrop Grumman's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly 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)	6 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
GE Aerospace	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.91

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership 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 insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of GE Aerospace shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to NOC or GE?

In the previous week, GE Aerospace had 53 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 79 mentions for GE Aerospace and 26 mentions for Northrop Grumman. GE Aerospace's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Northrop Grumman's score of 1.16 indicating that GE Aerospace is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northrop Grumman	23 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
GE Aerospace	53 Very Positive mention(s)	11 Positive mention(s)	13 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

GE Aerospace beats Northrop Grumman on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.