Reviewing Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) and CAE (NYSE:CAE)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Curtiss-Wright	13.66%	18.34%	9.35%
CAE	8.70%	7.92%	3.51%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Curtiss-Wright	$3.12 billion	6.18	$404.98 million	$11.85	43.18
CAE	$3.28 billion	2.82	$291.29 million	$0.92	31.36

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

Volatility and Risk

Curtiss-Wright has a beta of 1.15, meaning that its stock price is 15% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CAE has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Curtiss-Wright	0	2	5	0	2.71
CAE	0	4	5	2	2.82

Curtiss-Wright presently has a consensus target price of $468.14, indicating a potential downside of 8.50%. CAE has a consensus target price of $33.67, indicating a potential upside of 16.70%. Given CAE’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CAE is more favorable than Curtiss-Wright.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.7% of Curtiss-Wright shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.4% of CAE shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Curtiss-Wright shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of CAE shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Curtiss-Wright beats CAE on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About CAE

CAE Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides simulation training and critical operations support solutions in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, the Oceania, Africa, and Rest of the Americas. It operates through two segments, Civil Aviation; and Defense and Security. The Civil Aviation segment offers training solutions for flight, cabin, maintenance, and ground personnel in commercial, business, and helicopter aviation; a range of flight simulation training devices; and ab initio pilot training and crew sourcing services, as well as aircraft flight operations solutions. The Defense and Security segment operates as a training and simulation provider that delivers platform-independent solutions to enable and enhance force readiness and security for defense forces, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), government agencies, and public safety organizations. The company was formerly known as CAE Industries Ltd. and changed its name to CAE Inc. in 1993. CAE Inc. was incorporated in 1947 and is headquartered in Saint-Laurent, Canada.