Reviewing Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) and Woodward (NASDAQ:WWD) are both large-cap aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Rocket Lab and Woodward, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rocket Lab	1	6	7	1	2.53
Woodward	0	4	9	1	2.79

Rocket Lab presently has a consensus price target of $72.92, suggesting a potential upside of 2.90%. Woodward has a consensus price target of $354.80, suggesting a potential downside of 9.96%. Given Rocket Lab’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Rocket Lab is more favorable than Woodward.

Volatility & Risk

Rocket Lab has a beta of 2.16, suggesting that its stock price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Woodward has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

71.8% of Rocket Lab shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.2% of Woodward shares are held by institutional investors. 11.9% of Rocket Lab shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Woodward shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Rocket Lab and Woodward”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rocket Lab	$436.21 million	86.77	-$190.18 million	($0.38)	-186.47
Woodward	$3.57 billion	6.59	$442.11 million	$7.94	49.63

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

Profitability

This table compares Rocket Lab and Woodward’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rocket Lab	-35.64%	-27.26%	-12.21%
Woodward	12.89%	19.07%	10.23%

Summary

Woodward beats Rocket Lab on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA, Inc., a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets. It also designs, manufactures, and sells Electron, a reusable orbital-class small rocket; and the Photon satellite platforms, as well as developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle; conducts remote launch activities; and designs and manufactures a range of components and subsystems for the Photon family of spacecraft and broader merchant spacecraft components. The company serves commercial, aerospace prime contractors, and government customers. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.

About Woodward

Woodward, Inc. designs, manufactures, and services control solutions for the aerospace and industrial markets worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Industrial. The Aerospace segment provides fuel pumps, metering units, actuators, air valves, specialty valves, fuel nozzles, and thrust reverser actuation systems for turbine engines and nacelles, and flight deck controls, actuators, servocontrols, motors, and sensors for aircraft. These products are used on commercial and private aircraft and rotorcraft, as well as on military fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft, guided weapons, and other defense systems. It also provides aftermarket maintenance, repair and overhaul, and other services to commercial airlines, repair facilities, military depots, third party repair shops, and other end users. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), tier-one suppliers, and contractors, as well as through aftermarket sales of components, such as provisioning spares and replacements. The Industrial segment offers actuators, valves, pumps, fuel injection systems, solenoids, ignition systems, speed controls, electronics and software, and sensors. These products are used on industrial gas turbines, steam turbines, compressors, and reciprocating engines. This segment sells its aftermarket products, and other related services to OEMs through an independent network of distributors, as well as directly to end users. The company was founded in 1870 and is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado.