Head-To-Head Review: Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) & RTX (NYSE:RTX)

RTX (NYSE:RTX) and Curtiss-Wright (NYSE:CW) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for RTX and Curtiss-Wright, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RTX	1	7	18	0	2.65
Curtiss-Wright	0	4	3	1	2.62

RTX currently has a consensus target price of $229.48, suggesting a potential upside of 22.54%. Curtiss-Wright has a consensus target price of $768.25, suggesting a potential upside of 44.01%. Given Curtiss-Wright’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Curtiss-Wright is more favorable than RTX.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

86.5% of RTX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.7% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of RTX shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Curtiss-Wright shares are owned by 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.

Dividends

RTX pays an annual dividend of $2.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Curtiss-Wright pays an annual dividend of $1.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. RTX pays out 51.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Curtiss-Wright pays out 7.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. RTX has raised its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Curtiss-Wright has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RTX	8.28%	13.99%	5.51%
Curtiss-Wright	14.81%	20.49%	10.19%

Risk and Volatility

RTX has a beta of 0.29, indicating that its stock price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Curtiss-Wright has a beta of 0.84, indicating that its stock price is 16% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RTX	$88.60 billion	2.85	$6.73 billion	$5.68	32.97
Curtiss-Wright	$3.50 billion	5.63	$484.23 million	$14.53	36.72

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

Summary

Curtiss-Wright beats RTX on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RTX

RTX Corporation, an aerospace and defense company, provides systems and services for the commercial, military, and government customers in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. The Collins Aerospace Systems segment offers aerospace and defense products, and aftermarket service solutions for civil and military aircraft manufacturers and commercial airlines, as well as regional, business, and general aviation, defense, and commercial space operations. This segment also designs, produces, and supports cabin interior, including oxygen systems, food and beverage preparation, storage and galley systems, and lavatory and wastewater management systems; battlespace, test and training range systems, crew escape systems, and simulation and training solutions; information management services; and aftermarket services that include spare parts, overhaul and repair, engineering and technical support, training and fleet management solutions, and asset and information management services. Its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation customers; and produces, sells, and services military and commercial auxiliary power units. The Raytheon segment provides defensive and offensive threat detection, tracking, and mitigation capabilities for U.S., foreign government, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation and changed its name to RTX Corporation in July 2023. RTX Corporation was incorporated in 1934 and is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.

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.