Head to Head Analysis: Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE:HII) and Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) are both aerospace companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.5% of Huntington Ingalls Industries shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.3% of Archer Aviation shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Huntington Ingalls Industries shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 7.7% of Archer Aviation shares are held by 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 Huntington Ingalls Industries and Archer Aviation”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Huntington Ingalls Industries	$11.54 billion	1.32	$550.00 million	$14.48	26.75
Archer Aviation	N/A	N/A	-$536.80 million	($1.26)	-6.99

Huntington Ingalls Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Archer Aviation. Archer Aviation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Huntington Ingalls Industries, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Huntington Ingalls Industries and Archer Aviation, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Huntington Ingalls Industries	1	5	4	1	2.45
Archer Aviation	1	2	6	0	2.56

Huntington Ingalls Industries presently has a consensus price target of $325.75, indicating a potential downside of 15.91%. Archer Aviation has a consensus price target of $12.14, indicating a potential upside of 37.91%. Given Archer Aviation’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Archer Aviation is more favorable than Huntington Ingalls Industries.

Profitability

This table compares Huntington Ingalls Industries and Archer Aviation’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Huntington Ingalls Industries	4.74%	11.79%	4.68%
Archer Aviation	N/A	-49.22%	-41.46%

Risk and Volatility

Huntington Ingalls Industries has a beta of 0.36, suggesting that its share price is 64% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Archer Aviation has a beta of 3.1, suggesting that its share price is 210% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Huntington Ingalls Industries beats Archer Aviation on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Huntington Ingalls Industries

Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. designs, builds, overhauls, and repairs military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls, Newport News, and Mission Technologies. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It also provides nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as refueling and overhaul, and inactivation services of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In addition, the company offers naval nuclear support services, including fleet services comprising design, construction, maintenance, and disposal activities for in-service the U.S. Navy nuclear ships; and maintenance services on nuclear reactor prototypes. Further, the company provides C5ISR systems and operations; application of artificial intelligence and machine learning to battlefield decisions; defensive and offensive cyberspace strategies and electronic warfare; live, virtual, and constructive solutions; unmanned, autonomous systems; and fleet sustainment; and critical nuclear operations. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia.

About Archer Aviation

Archer Aviation Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in designs, develops, and operates electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for use in urban air mobility. The company was formerly known as Atlas Crest Investment Corp. and changed its name to Archer Aviation Inc. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.