What are we looking for?
U.S. defence stocks offering profitable growth and downside protection.
Over the past 10 years, defence stocks have significantly outperformed the broader U.S. market. For this period, the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index has a cumulative return of 333 per cent compared with 188 per cent for the S&P 500. This outperformance is because earnings for companies in this industry have grown faster than the market over all as defence spending has increased and the industry has consolidated. These are also very defensive stocks in the investing sense, in that they are highly specialized and offer a strong moat to new competitors. Furthermore, their revenues are tied to government projects which are long-term and not linked to the overall economic cycle.
The screen
We will be using Trading Central Strategy Builder to search for U.S. defence stocks demonstrating long-term earnings growth, low debt and reasonable valuations.
We will start by screening for stocks with a market capitalization of at least US$10-billion. We wish to focus on the giants of this industry with stable long-term businesses.
Next, we will search for stocks that have reasonable valuations. We will filter and include only stocks with trailing price-to-earnings ratios of 25 or less. To find stocks with a track record of growing earnings, we will also include only stocks with five-year historical earnings-per-share growth of at least 3 per cent a year. In addition, to focus on efficient and profitable operations, we will require gross margins of at least 15 per cent.
Last, to find stocks that are not overburdened by debt, we will screen for debt-to-equity ratios of two or less. Debt is a drag on corporate earnings and is especially worrisome in a rising interest-rate environment.
More about Trading Central
Trading Central is a global leader in financial market research and investment analytics for retail online brokers and institutions. Trading Central’s product suite provides actionable trading ideas based on technical and fundamental research covering stocks, ETFs, indexes, forex, options and commodities.
What we found
The lowest P/E and highest EPS growth rate on our list belongs to Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., the largest military shipbuilder in the United States. After five years of steady growth, the stock took a dip in April owing to a rare EPS miss. The stock is now up 8.3 per cent year-to-date and 14.9 per cent over the past year.
The highest gross margin on our list belongs to Rockwell Collins Inc., a leader in defence avionics and technology. Rockwell has a gross margin of 41.4 per cent and a trailing P/E ratio of 23.1. Rockwell is in the process of being acquired by United Technologies, with the sale expected to close later in 2018.
The largest company on our list is defence giant General Dynamics Corp. with a market cap of more than US$60-billion. The stock price is currently down slightly year-to-date but seems to have bottomed. The stock is up 4.8 per cent in the past month.
Trading Central Strategy Builder provides a back-testing capability to evaluate how well an investing strategy would have worked in the past. Using a five-year historical period with quarterly rebalancing, the screen described had a 20.7 per cent annualized return, compared with 11.6 per cent for the S&P 500.
The investment ideas presented here are for information only. They do not constitute advice or a recommendation by Trading Central in respect of the investment in financial instruments. Investors should conduct further research before investing.
Peter Ashton is vice-president of customer success at Trading Central.
Peter Ashton