Northrop Grumman (NOC) Competitors

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

Which has higher earnings and valuation, NOC or HON?

Honeywell International has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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
Northrop Grumman	$40.12B	1.66	$2.06B	$14.30	31.52
Honeywell International	$36.90B	3.57	$5.66B	$8.63	23.43

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NOC or HON?

Honeywell International received 534 more outperform votes than Northrop Grumman when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 75.61% of users gave Honeywell International an outperform vote while only 62.33% of users gave Northrop Grumman an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Northrop Grumman	Outperform Votes 647 62.33%	Underperform Votes 391 37.67%
Honeywell International	Outperform Votes 1181 75.61%	Underperform Votes 381 24.39%

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

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

Which has more risk and volatility, NOC or HON?

Northrop Grumman has a beta of 0.34, indicating that its share price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Honeywell International has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to NOC or HON?

In the previous week, Northrop Grumman had 4 more articles in the media than Honeywell International. MarketBeat recorded 15 mentions for Northrop Grumman and 11 mentions for Honeywell International. Honeywell International's average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Northrop Grumman's score of 0.68 indicating that Honeywell International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Northrop Grumman	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Honeywell International	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NOC or HON more profitable?

Honeywell International has a net margin of 15.52% compared to Northrop Grumman's net margin of 5.38%. Honeywell International's return on equity of 35.88% beat Northrop Grumman's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Northrop Grumman	5.38%	24.09%	7.88%
Honeywell International	15.52%	35.88%	9.89%

Do analysts rate NOC or HON?

Northrop Grumman presently has a consensus target price of $514.33, indicating a potential upside of 14.10%. Honeywell International has a consensus target price of $215.71, indicating a potential upside of 6.69%. Given Northrop Grumman's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Northrop Grumman is more favorable than Honeywell International.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Northrop Grumman	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.27
Honeywell International	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17

Is NOC or HON a better dividend stock?

Northrop Grumman pays an annual dividend of $8.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Honeywell International pays an annual dividend of $4.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Northrop Grumman pays out 57.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Honeywell International pays out 50.1% 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 is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Honeywell International beats Northrop Grumman on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.