Contrasting Heico (NYSE:HEI.A) and Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW)

Heico (NYSE:HEI.A) and Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Heico and Curtiss-Wright, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Heico	0	1	0	1	3.00
Curtiss-Wright	0	3	4	0	2.57

Curtiss-Wright has a consensus price target of $605.50, suggesting a potential downside of 7.67%. Given Curtiss-Wright’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Curtiss-Wright is more favorable than Heico.

Volatility & Risk

Heico has a beta of 1.08, indicating that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curtiss-Wright has a beta of 0.95, indicating that its stock price is 5% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

59.0% of Heico shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by institutional investors. 9.8% of Heico shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Heico pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Curtiss-Wright pays an annual dividend of $0.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Heico pays out 5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Curtiss-Wright pays out 7.8% 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. Curtiss-Wright has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years. Curtiss-Wright is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Heico and Curtiss-Wright”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Heico	$4.49 billion	8.59	$690.39 million	$4.57	60.49
Curtiss-Wright	$3.12 billion	7.75	$404.98 million	$12.27	53.45

Heico has higher revenue and earnings than Curtiss-Wright. Curtiss-Wright is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heico, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Heico and Curtiss-Wright’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Heico	15.39%	16.80%	8.36%
Curtiss-Wright	13.78%	18.82%	9.53%

Summary

Heico beats Curtiss-Wright on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heico

HEICO Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells aerospace, defense, and electronic related products and services in the United States and internationally. The company's Flight Support Group segment provides jet engine and aircraft component replacement parts; thermal insulation blankets and parts; renewable/reusable insulation systems; and specialty components. This segment also distributes hydraulic, pneumatic, structural, interconnect, mechanical, and electro-mechanical components for the commercial, regional, and general aviation markets; and offers repair and overhaul services for jet engine and aircraft component parts, avionics, instruments, composites, and flight surfaces of commercial aircraft, as well as for avionics and navigation systems, subcomponents, and other instruments utilized on military aircraft. Its Electronic Technologies Group segment provides electro-optical infrared simulation and test equipment; electro-optical laser products; electro-optical, microwave, and other power equipment; electromagnetic and radio interference shielding and suppression filters; high-speed interface products; high voltage interconnection devices; high voltage advanced power electronics; power conversion products; and underwater locator beacons and emergency locator transmission beacons. This segment also offers traveling wave tube amplifiers and microwave power modules; three-dimensional microelectronic and stacked memory products; harsh environment connectivity products and custom molded cable assemblies; radio frequency and microwave amplifiers, transmitters, and receivers; communications and electronic intercept receivers and tuners; self-sealing auxiliary fuel systems; active antenna systems; and nuclear radiation detectors. The company serves customers primarily in the aviation, defense, space, medical, telecommunications, and electronics industries. HEICO Corporation was founded in 1957 and is headquartered in Hollywood, Florida.

About Curtiss-Wright

Curtiss-Wright Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides engineered products, solutions, and services mainly to aerospace and defense, commercial power, process, and industrial markets worldwide. It operates through three segments: Aerospace & Industrial, Defense Electronics, and Naval & Power. The Aerospace & Industrial segment offers industrial and specialty vehicle products, such as power management electronics, traction inverters, transmission shifters, and control systems; sensors, controls, and electro-mechanical actuation components used on commercial and military aircraft; and surface technology services including shot peening, laser peening, and engineered coatings. The Defense Electronics segment provides commercial off-the-shelf embedded computing board-level modules and processing equipment, data acquisition and flight test instrumentation equipment, integrated subsystems, instrumentation and control systems, tactical communications solutions; and electronic stabilization products, and weapons handling systems; avionics and electronics; flight test equipment; and aircraft data management solutions. The Naval & Power segment offers main coolant pumps, power-dense compact motors, generators, steam turbines, valves, and secondary propulsion systems; energy absorbers, retractable hook cable systems, net-stanchion systems and mobile systems to support fixed land-based arresting systems; hardware, valves, fastening systems, specialized containment doors, airlock hatches, and spent fuel management products; reactor coolant pumps and control rod drive mechanisms for commercial nuclear power plants, as well as various nuclear reactor technologies. This segment furnishes severe-service valve technologies and services, heat exchanger repair, and piping test and isolation products, and offers ship repair and maintenance for the U.S. navy. Curtiss-Wright Corporation was incorporated in 1929 and is headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina.