Head to Head: Rolls Royce vs. BAE Systems
In this series, some of your favorite FTSE 100 (UKX) shares go head to head in a three-round contest for superiority.
In Round 1, the firms fight on earnings; in Round 2, on dividends; and Round 3 is a battle of the balance sheets. The winner will be the company that has racked up most points at the end of the contest.
Stepping into the ring today are aerospace and defense giants Rolls-Royce (ISE: RR.L) and BAE Systems (ISE: BA.L) .
Shares in Britain's premier aerospace and defense companies have been in demand with investors over the past six months. The FTSE 100 is up 3% over the period, but Rolls-Royce's shares have climbed 10% and BAE's 12%.
Let's take our seats at ringside.
Round 1: earnings
Rolls-Royce | BAE Systems | |
|---|---|---|
Recent share price | 885p | 329p |
Last year price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio | 18.2 | 7.2 |
Current year forecast P/E | 15.7 | 8.1 |
Four-year earnings per share (eps) compound annual growth rate (CAGR) (%) | 9 | 11 |
Current year forecast eps growth (%) | 16 | (11) |
Operating margin (%) | 10 | 8 |
Sources: Digital Look, Morningstar, company reports. Winners in bold.
BAE makes a strong start to round one, scoring thumping points on P/E and narrowly taking the point for historic earnings growth. Despite Rolls-Royce hitting back hard on forecast growth and scoring a narrow-margin point for operating margin, BAE takes the round by three points to two.
Round 2: dividends
Rolls-Royce | BAE Systems | |
|---|---|---|
Last year dividend yield (%) | 2.0 | 5.7 |
Current year forecast dividend yield (%) | 2.2 | 5.9 |
Four-year dividend CAGR (%) | 8 | 10 |
Current year forecast dividend growth (%) | 12 | 4 |
Forecast dividend cover | 2.9 | 2.1 |
Sources: Digital Look, Morningstar, company reports. Winners in bold.
It's a similar story in round two. BAE scores heavy-hitting points on yield and narrowly takes the point for historic dividend growth. Rolls-Royce hits back on forecast growth and superior dividend cover, but again BAE takes the round by three points to two.
Round 3: balance sheet
Rolls-Royce | BAE Systems | |
|---|---|---|
Price-to-book (P/B) ratio | 3.7 | 2.5 |
Net gearing (%) | (2) | 25 |
Sources: Digital Look, Morningstar, company reports. Winners in bold.
It's all square in the final round. BAE takes the point for P/B, while Rolls-Royce scores on gearing. BAE's gearing is certainly far from extravagant, but the negative number for Rolls-Royce indicates net cash on its balance sheet.
At the end of the contest, the companies have drawn one round and BAE has won two. The overall points tally is BAE seven and Rolls-Royce five.
Post-match assessment
This was quite a close contest, but it's worth noting that BAE took all five valuation-ratio points: historic and forecast P/E, historic and forecast dividend yield, and P/B. This suggests that BAE might just be better value than Rolls-Royce at the present time.
BAE's ratings are not only very "cheap" relative to Rolls-Royce's, but they are also cheap in absolute terms: a P/E in single figures and a dividend yield pushing 6%, with only the P/B above the level value investors might wish for.
BAE certainly has its attractions, which are increased in my view by the recent abandonment of its likely value-destroying, and almost certainly dividend-destroying, merger with pan-European group EADS.
As for Rolls-Royce, while its business fundamentals are undoubtedly strong, any case for its shares being good value at their current level is not revealed by the set of valuation measures used in this head-to-head contest.
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The article Head to Head: Rolls Royce vs. BAE Systems originally appeared on Fool.com.
G.A. Chester does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.The Motley Fool has adisclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days.
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