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 better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and media sentiment.

Which has preferable earnings and valuation, HON or NOC?

Honeywell International has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Northrop Grumman. Honeywell International 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
Honeywell International	$37.85B	3.92	$5.66B	$8.66	26.36
Northrop Grumman	$40.99B	1.67	$2.06B	$16.14	29.09

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer HON or NOC?

Honeywell International received 536 more outperform votes than Northrop Grumman when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 74.61% of users gave Honeywell International an outperform vote while only 61.80% of users gave Northrop Grumman an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Honeywell International	Outperform Votes 1196 74.61%	Underperform Votes 407 25.39%
Northrop Grumman	Outperform Votes 660 61.80%	Underperform Votes 408 38.20%

Is HON or NOC more profitable?

Honeywell International has a net margin of 15.02% compared to Northrop Grumman's net margin of 5.79%. Honeywell International's return on equity of 37.77% beat Northrop Grumman's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Honeywell International	15.02%	37.77%	9.65%
Northrop Grumman	5.79%	26.57%	8.11%

Do analysts recommend HON or NOC?

Honeywell International currently has a consensus price target of $249.57, indicating a potential upside of 9.31%. Northrop Grumman has a consensus price target of $553.27, indicating a potential upside of 17.83%. Given Northrop Grumman's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Northrop Grumman is more favorable than Honeywell International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Honeywell International	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.47
Northrop Grumman	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more volatility & risk, HON or NOC?

Honeywell International has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its share price is 67% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to HON or NOC?

In the previous week, Honeywell International had 22 more articles in the media than Northrop Grumman. MarketBeat recorded 30 mentions for Honeywell International and 8 mentions for Northrop Grumman. Northrop Grumman's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Honeywell International's score of 0.68 indicating that Northrop Grumman is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Honeywell International	11 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	15 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Northrop Grumman	5 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals and insiders believe in HON or NOC?

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

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 2.0%. Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $8.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Honeywell International pays out 52.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Northrop Grumman pays out 51.1% 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 raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Northrop Grumman has raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Summary

Honeywell International beats Northrop Grumman on 14 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.