Analyzing Loar (NYSE:LOAR) and Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

82.7% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by institutional investors. 22.6% of Loar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Loar	$496.28 million	10.88	$72.15 million	$0.75	76.92
Curtiss-Wright	$3.50 billion	7.58	$484.23 million	$12.87	55.84

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Loar	14.54%	7.54%	5.27%
Curtiss-Wright	13.84%	19.28%	9.73%

Volatility and Risk

Loar has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curtiss-Wright has a beta of 0.91, suggesting that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Loar and Curtiss-Wright, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Loar	0	2	4	0	2.67
Curtiss-Wright	0	3	4	0	2.57

Loar currently has a consensus target price of $89.00, indicating a potential upside of 54.28%. Curtiss-Wright has a consensus target price of $677.00, indicating a potential downside of 5.80%. Given Loar’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Loar is more favorable than Curtiss-Wright.

Summary

Curtiss-Wright beats Loar on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Loar

Loar Holdings Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets aerospace and defense components for aircraft, and aerospace and defense systems in the United States and internationally. It offers products in various categories, which include airframe components, structural components, avionics, composites, braking system components, de-ice and ice protection, electro-mechanical, engineered materials, flight controls, fluid and motion controls, environmental, metal forming, molded components, and restraints and safety devices. The company also provides auto throttles, lap-belt airbags, two-and three-point seat belts, water purification systems, fire barriers, polyimide washers and bushings, latches, hold-open and tie rods, temperature and fluid sensors and switches, carbon and metallic brake discs, fluid and pneumatic-based ice protection, RAM air components, sealing solutions, actuation devices, and others. It primarily serves commercial, business jet and general aviation, and defense markets. Loar Holdings Inc. was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in White Plains, New York.

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.