Financial Survey: FTAI Aviation (NASDAQ:FTAI) vs. Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) and FTAI Aviation (NASDAQ:FTAI) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk and valuation.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Huntington Ingalls Industries and FTAI Aviation”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huntington Ingalls Industries	$12.48 billion	0.91	$605.00 million	$18.58	15.56
FTAI Aviation	$3.42 billion	5.38	$501.06 million	$4.93	36.57

Huntington Ingalls Industries has higher revenue and earnings than FTAI Aviation. Huntington Ingalls Industries is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than FTAI Aviation, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Huntington Ingalls Industries and FTAI Aviation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huntington Ingalls Industries	5.42%	13.95%	5.76%
FTAI Aviation	15.46%	132.04%	11.63%

Volatility and Risk

Huntington Ingalls Industries has a beta of 0.17, suggesting that its share price is 83% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, FTAI Aviation has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Huntington Ingalls Industries pays an annual dividend of $5.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. FTAI Aviation pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Huntington Ingalls Industries pays out 29.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. FTAI Aviation pays out 40.6% 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. Huntington Ingalls Industries has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Huntington Ingalls Industries is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Huntington Ingalls Industries and FTAI Aviation, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huntington Ingalls Industries	0	5	4	1	2.60
FTAI Aviation	0	2	8	0	2.80

Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has a consensus price target of $369.50, suggesting a potential upside of 27.82%. FTAI Aviation has a consensus price target of $304.38, suggesting a potential upside of 68.84%. Given FTAI Aviation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe FTAI Aviation is more favorable than Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.5% of Huntington Ingalls Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.0% of FTAI Aviation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Huntington Ingalls Industries shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of FTAI Aviation shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

FTAI Aviation beats Huntington Ingalls Industries on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It also provides nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as refueling and overhaul, and inactivation services of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In addition, the company offers naval nuclear support services, including fleet services comprising design, construction, maintenance, and disposal activities for in-service the U.S. Navy nuclear ships; and maintenance services on nuclear reactor prototypes. Further, the company provides C5ISR systems and operations; application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to battlefield decisions; defensive and offensive cyberspace strategies and electronic warfare; live, virtual, and constructive solutions; unmanned, autonomous systems; and fleet sustainment; and critical nuclear operations. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia.

About FTAI Aviation

FTAI Aviation Ltd. owns and acquires aviation and offshore energy equipment for the transportation of goods and people worldwide. It operates through two segments, Aviation Leasing and Aerospace Products. The Aviation Leasing segment owns and manages aviation assets, including aircraft and aircraft engines, which it leases and sells to customers. As of December 31, 2023, this segment owned and managed 363 aviation assets consisting of 96 commercial aircraft and 267 engines, including eight aircraft and seventeen engines that were located in Russia. The Aerospace Products segment develops, manufactures, repairs, and sells aircraft engines and aftermarket components for aircraft engines. The company was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.