Head to Head Comparison: Howmet Aerospace (HWM) and The Competition

Howmet Aerospace (NYSE:HWM) is one of 33 public companies in the “AEROSP/DEFENSE” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Howmet Aerospace to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Howmet Aerospace and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Howmet Aerospace	$7.43 billion	$1.16 billion	57.56
Howmet Aerospace Competitors	$18.81 billion	$730.78 million	9.51

Howmet Aerospace’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Howmet Aerospace. Howmet Aerospace is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Howmet Aerospace and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Howmet Aerospace	16.64%	27.25%	11.48%
Howmet Aerospace Competitors	-410.20%	-70.11%	-13.94%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.5% of Howmet Aerospace shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 53.5% of shares of all “AEROSP/DEFENSE” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Howmet Aerospace shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.4% of shares of all “AEROSP/DEFENSE” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Howmet Aerospace has a beta of 1.44, meaning that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Howmet Aerospace’s competitors have a beta of 1.16, meaning that their average stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Howmet Aerospace pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Howmet Aerospace pays out 13.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “AEROSP/DEFENSE” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.7% and pay out 39.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Howmet Aerospace has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Howmet Aerospace and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Howmet Aerospace	0	4	13	0	2.76
Howmet Aerospace Competitors	392	2126	3297	119	2.53

Howmet Aerospace currently has a consensus target price of $142.13, suggesting a potential downside of 19.57%. As a group, “AEROSP/DEFENSE” companies have a potential upside of 9.20%. Given Howmet Aerospace’s competitors higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Howmet Aerospace has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Summary

Howmet Aerospace beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Howmet Aerospace

Howmet Aerospace Inc. provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels. The Engine Products segment offers airfoils and seamless rolled rings primarily for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines; and rotating and structural parts. The Fastening Systems segment produces aerospace fastening systems, as well as commercial transportation, industrial, and other fasteners; and latches, bearings, fluid fittings, and installation tools. The Engineered Structures segment provides titanium ingots and mill products, aluminum and nickel forgings, and machined components and assemblies for aerospace and defense applications; and titanium forgings, extrusions, and forming and machining services for airframe, wing, aero-engine, and landing gear components. The Forged Wheels segment offers forged aluminum wheels and related products for heavy-duty trucks and commercial transportation markets. The company was formerly known as Arconic Inc. Howmet Aerospace Inc. was founded in 1888 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.