Reviewing GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) & Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT)

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

GE Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.6%. Lockheed Martin pays an annual dividend of $13.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. GE Aerospace pays out 23.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Lockheed Martin pays out 66.8% 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. GE Aerospace has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Lockheed Martin has raised its dividend for 22 consecutive years. Lockheed Martin is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for GE Aerospace and Lockheed Martin, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
GE Aerospace	1	2	16	1	2.85
Lockheed Martin	1	12	7	1	2.38

GE Aerospace presently has a consensus price target of $348.22, indicating a potential upside of 16.03%. Lockheed Martin has a consensus price target of $620.68, indicating a potential upside of 18.83%. Given Lockheed Martin’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Lockheed Martin is more favorable than GE Aerospace.

Volatility and Risk

GE Aerospace has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Lockheed Martin has a beta of 0.1, meaning that its share price is 90% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares GE Aerospace and Lockheed Martin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
GE Aerospace	17.86%	37.99%	5.61%
Lockheed Martin	6.38%	101.64%	10.98%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares GE Aerospace and Lockheed Martin”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
GE Aerospace	$45.86 billion	6.83	$8.70 billion	$8.12	36.96
Lockheed Martin	$75.05 billion	1.60	$5.02 billion	$20.65	25.29

GE Aerospace has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than GE Aerospace, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

74.8% of GE Aerospace shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 74.2% of Lockheed Martin shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of GE Aerospace shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Lockheed Martin shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

GE Aerospace beats Lockheed Martin on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About GE Aerospace

GE Aerospace (also known as General Electric) is a company that specializes in providing aerospace products and services. It operates through two reportable segments: Commercial Engines and Services and Defense and Propulsion Technologies. It offers jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft. GE demerged into GE Vernova, GE Aerospace, and GE Healthcare.

About Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corporation, a security and aerospace company, engages in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration, and sustainment of technology systems, products, and services worldwide. The company operates through Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, Rotary and Mission Systems, and Space segments. The Aeronautics segment offers combat and air mobility aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and related technologies. The Missiles and Fire Control segment provides air and missile defense systems; tactical missiles and air-to-ground precision strike weapon systems; logistics; fire control systems; mission operations support, readiness, engineering support, and integration services; manned and unmanned ground vehicles; and energy management solutions. The Rotary and Mission Systems segment offers military and commercial helicopters, surface ships, sea and land-based missile defense systems, radar systems, sea and air-based mission and combat systems, command and control mission solutions, cyber solutions, and simulation and training solutions. The Space segment offers satellites; space transportation systems; strategic, advanced strike, and defensive systems; and classified systems and services in support of national security systems. This segment also provides network-enabled situational awareness and integrates space and ground global systems to help its customers gather, analyze, and securely distribute critical intelligence data. It serves primarily serves the U.S. government, as well as foreign military sales contracted through the U.S. government. The company was founded in 1912 and is based in Bethesda, Maryland.