Comparing Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) & Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB)

Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) and Rocket Lab (NASDAQ:RKLB) are both large-cap industrials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

88.0% of Moog shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Rocket Lab shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Moog shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.4% of Rocket Lab shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Moog and Rocket Lab, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Moog	0	1	4	0	2.80
Rocket Lab	1	5	14	3	2.83

Moog presently has a consensus price target of $446.25, indicating a potential upside of 23.37%. Rocket Lab has a consensus price target of $102.05, indicating a potential upside of 87.49%. Given Rocket Lab’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rocket Lab is more favorable than Moog.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Moog and Rocket Lab”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Moog	$3.86 billion	2.97	$235.03 million	$11.76	30.76
Rocket Lab	$601.80 million	54.12	-$198.21 million	($0.27)	-201.59

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

Profitability

This table compares Moog and Rocket Lab’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Moog	8.73%	17.67%	7.94%
Rocket Lab	-21.51%	-6.48%	-4.92%

Volatility and Risk

Moog has a beta of 1.03, indicating that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rocket Lab has a beta of 3.15, indicating that its share price is 215% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Moog beats Rocket Lab on 8 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Moog

Moog Inc. designs, manufactures, and integrates precision motion and fluid controls and controls systems for original equipment manufacturers and end users in the aerospace, defense, and industrial markets worldwide. The company's Aircrafts Controls segment offers primary and secondary flight controls for military and commercial aircrafts; aftermarket support services; and ground-based navigation aids. Its Space and Defense Controls segment provides controls for satellites, space vehicles, launch vehicles, armored combat vehicles, tactical and strategic missiles, security and surveillance, and other defense applications; and gun aiming, stabilization, and automatic ammunition loading for armored combat vehicles. This segment also offers controls for steering tactical and strategic missiles, and naval surface ships and submarines; and weapons stores management systems for light attack aerial reconnaissance, ground, and sea platforms, as well as slip rings, fiber optic rotary joints, and motors. The company's Industrial Systems segment provides components and systems for applications in injection and blow molding machinery, metal forming presses, and heavy industry customers in steel and aluminum production; supplies electromechanical motion simulation bases for the flight simulation and training applications; and supplies solutions for power generation applications, as well as custom test systems and controls for automotive, structural, and fatigue testing. This segment also offers systems and components for applications in oil and gas exploration and production; components for wind turbine applications; components and systems for diagnostic imaging CT scan medical equipment, sleep apnea equipment, oxygen concentrators, infusion therapy, and enteral clinical nutrition; and hydraulics, slip rings, rotary unions and fiber optic rotary joints, motors, and infusion and enteral pumps. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in East Aurora, New York.

About Rocket Lab

Rocket Lab USA, Inc., a space company, provides launch services and space systems solutions for the space and defense industries. The company provides launch services, spacecraft design services, spacecraft components, spacecraft manufacturing, and other spacecraft and on-orbit management solutions; and constellation management services, as well as designs and manufactures small and medium-class rockets. It also designs, manufactures, and sells Electron, a reusable orbital-class small rocket; and the Photon satellite platforms, as well as developing the Neutron 8-ton payload class launch vehicle; conducts remote launch activities; and designs and manufactures a range of components and subsystems for the Photon family of spacecraft and broader merchant spacecraft components. The company serves commercial, aerospace prime contractors, and government customers. Rocket Lab USA, Inc. was founded in 2006 and is headquartered in Long Beach, California.