Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) and Astronics (NASDAQ:ATRO) Head-To-Head Contrast

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Astronics	8.40%	67.69%	14.23%
Curtiss-Wright	14.81%	20.49%	10.19%

Risk and Volatility

Astronics has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curtiss-Wright has a beta of 0.88, meaning that its stock price is 12% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Astronics	$862.13 million	2.96	$29.36 million	$1.70	34.94
Curtiss-Wright	$3.50 billion	5.02	$484.23 million	$14.53	32.70

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Astronics and Curtiss-Wright, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Astronics	0	3	2	2	2.86
Curtiss-Wright	0	4	3	1	2.62

Astronics presently has a consensus price target of $89.58, suggesting a potential upside of 50.84%. Curtiss-Wright has a consensus price target of $676.38, suggesting a potential upside of 42.36%. Given Astronics’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Astronics is more favorable than Curtiss-Wright.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

56.7% of Astronics shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Astronics shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned 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

Astronics beats Curtiss-Wright on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Astronics

Astronics Corporation, through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures products for the aerospace, defense, and electronics industries in the United States, rest of North America, Asia, Europe, South America, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Aerospace and Test Systems. The Aerospace segment offers lighting and safety systems, electrical power generation systems, distribution and seat motions systems, aircraft structures, avionics products, system certification, and other products. This segment serves airframe manufacturers (OEM) that build aircraft for the commercial, military, and general aviation markets; suppliers to OEMs; and aircraft operators, such as airlines; suppliers to the aircraft operators; and branches of the U.S. Department of Defense. The Test Systems segment designs, develops, manufactures, and maintains automated test systems that support the aerospace and defense, and mass transit industries, as well as training and simulation devices for commercial and military applications. It serves OEMs and prime government contractors for electronics and military products. Astronics Corporation was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in East Aurora, 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.