CR vs HEI vs HWM Stock Comparison

Crane, Heico and Howmet Aerospace Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CR Crane Co
$198.03 -4.3% 1M +3.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.86B
P/E
34.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.76B
Div. yield
–
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
4 wins
HEI Heico Corp
$310.92 +2.1% 1M -0.5% 1Y
Market cap
$45.63B
P/E
53.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.18B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
1 win
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$195.28 -14.5% 1M -2.9% 1Y
Market cap
$82.22B
P/E
44.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.12B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
7 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Howmet Aerospace leads on 7 of the 12 questions below (Howmet Aerospace 7, Crane 4, Heico 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRHEIHWMLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.86B $45.63B $82.22B HWM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 34.7x 53.8x 44.0x CR
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 29.7x 51.1x 37.6x CR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.5% +20.7% +18.1% CR
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 16.4% 20.5% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 13.5% 19.4% HWM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.6x 1.4x HWM
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% HWM
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +3.5% -0.5% -2.9% CR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +17.4%/yr +45.8%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.4% 32.4% 35.2% HEI
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 60/100 66/100 73/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

CRHEIHWM

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisCRHEIHWM
Valuation 44 #56 of 100 34 #66 of 100 40 #60 of 100
Growth 71 #29 of 97 80 #20 of 97 91 #10 of 97
Profitability 77 #23 of 96 94 #7 of 96 98 #3 of 96
Financial Health 60 #43 of 105 59 #44 of 105 49 #54 of 105
Shareholder Returns 50 #33 of 65 64 #24 of 65 86 #10 of 65
Overall 60 66 73
  • CR ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • HEI ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • HWM ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodCRHEIHWMSPY
1 month -4.3%+2.1%-14.5% +0.9%
3 months -4.3%-12.5%-28.4% +5.9%
6 months +12.3%+19.1%-17.4% +8.5%
Year to date +7.4%-3.9%-4.8% +13.3%
1 year +3.5%-0.5%-2.9% +12.4%
3 years +117.0%+97.6%+353.2% +88.1%
3 years, per year +29.5%+25.5%+65.5% +23.5%
5 years —+123.1%+557.7% +68.2%
5 years, per year —+17.4%+45.8% +11.0%
10 years —+800.7%— +263.4%
10 years, per year —+24.6%— +13.8%

Risk

MeasureCRHEIHWMSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.4%32.4%35.2% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.9%31.3%36.5% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.451.151.10 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.11-0.02-0.08 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.2%-27.1%-36.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -12.5%-17.0%-33.3% -0.9%
52-week high $226.38$374.67$292.71 $779.14
52-week low $160.86$260.99$185.88 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleCRHEIHWM
P/E now vs peer median 33.4xmedian 26.4x 51.2xmedian 26.4x 41.8xmedian 26.4x
P/S now vs peer median 4.2xmedian 3.0x 8.4xmedian 3.0x 8.6xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.5x 31.3xmedian 14.5x 29.3xmedian 14.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.7xmedian 26.1x 42.2xmedian 26.1x 43.6xmedian 26.1x
P/B now vs peer median 5.0xmedian 2.5x 8.6xmedian 2.5x 13.6xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 10.05median 0.90 1.83median 0.90 0.77median 0.90

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsCRHEIHWM
Revenue $2.76B $5.18B $9.12B
Gross profit – $2.09B $3.29B
Operating income $486.80M $1.24B $2.50B
Net income $342.00M $912.35M $1.87B
Free cash flow – $1.03B $1.79B
R&D – – $37.00M
EPS (diluted) $5.83 $6.00 $4.65
Cash & equivalents $315.70M $240.96M $563.00M
Total debt – $2.54B $4.50B
Shares (diluted) 58.70M 141.27M 402.00M
Enterprise value $11.86B $44.70B $77.82B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricCRHEIHWM
P/E 33.4x 51.2x 41.8x
P/FCF 31.7x 42.2x 43.6x
P/Operating cash flow 26.8x 39.1x 35.2x
P/S 4.2x 8.4x 8.6x
P/B 5.0x 8.6x 13.6x
P/Tangible book 5.0x 13.4x 16.1x
EV/EBITDA – 31.3x 29.3x
EV/EBIT – 36.7x 32.9x
EV/Revenue 4.2x 8.8x 9.0x
EV/FCF – 44.4x 45.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 26.8x 41.2x 36.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 10.05 1.83 0.77

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRHEIHWM
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.5% 20.7% 18.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 19.7% 25.1% 13.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 23.4% 30.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 26.7% 25.3%
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.1% 29.8% 32.6%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.6% 28.8% 34.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.5% 31.5% 33.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.6% 27.4% 52.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.7% 31.8% 35.4%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 27.9% 54.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.2% 31.6% 56.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 43.8% 35.7% 42.2%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 31.7% 75.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 36.8% 45.6%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRHEIHWM
Gross margin – 40.4% 36.0%
EBITDA margin – 28.2% 30.7%
Operating margin – 24.0% 27.4%
Pretax margin – 21.6% 25.0%
Net margin – 16.4% 20.5%
FCF margin – 19.9% 19.6%
Operating cash flow margin 15.5% 21.5% 24.4%
Return on equity 15.4% 18.5% 33.3%
Return on assets 8.5% 9.3% 14.2%
Return on invested capital – 13.5% 19.4%
Return on capital employed – 14.2% 23.0%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.5x 0.7x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 1.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.0% 1.0%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRHEIHWM
Debt / assets – 25.6% 34.0%
Debt / equity – 0.5x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.6x 1.4x
Debt / FCF – 2.5x 2.5x
Liabilities / assets 43.2% 49.4% 56.7%
Equity / assets 56.8% 50.6% 43.3%
Interest coverage – 9.4x –
Current ratio 2.6x 2.7x 1.8x
Quick ratio – 1.0x 0.7x
Cash ratio – 0.2x 0.2x
Altman Z-score – 7.04 8.25

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRHEIHWM
Dividend yield 0.5% 0.1% 0.3%
Net buyback yield – 0.0% 1.3%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 0.1% 1.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 3.8% 10.4%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 3.4% 10.9%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 9.1% 30.0%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 8.4% 47.3%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusCRHEIHWM
Forward P/E 29.7xFY2026 51.1xFY2026 37.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.66FY2026 $6.08FY2026 $5.19FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.1%FY2026 +24.1%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.8% +20.6% +31.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.96BFY2026 $5.68BFY2026 $10.37BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 +26.6%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.8% +10.4% +15.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRHEIHWM
Held by institutions 78.3% 78.3% 91.0%
Institutions holding 598 772 1,600
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% +7.4% +0.7%
Institutions buying 314 371 907
Institutions selling 187 267 484
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.39 1.87

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

CRHEIHWM
CR 1.00 0.47 0.55
HEI 0.47 1.00 0.53
HWM 0.55 0.53 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CR, HEI and HWM?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Crane (CR) $11.86B, Heico (HEI) $45.63B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $82.22B.

Which stock is cheaper, CR, HEI and HWM?

Crane (CR) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Crane (CR) 34.7x, Heico (HEI) 53.8x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 44.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Crane (CR) is cheapest (Crane (CR) 29.7x, Heico (HEI) 51.1x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 37.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Crane (CR) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Crane (CR) +21.5%, Heico (HEI) +20.7%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +18.1%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (Heico (HEI) 16.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 20.5%). On return on invested capital, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads (Heico (HEI) 13.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 19.4%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Crane (CR) returned the most: Crane (CR) +3.5%, Heico (HEI) -0.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) -2.9%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (Heico (HEI) +17.4%/yr, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +45.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest dividend yield: Crane (CR) 0.00%, Heico (HEI) 0.00%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 0.00%. Crane (CR) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Heico (HEI) has been the steadiest (Crane (CR) 33.4%, Heico (HEI) 32.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 35.2%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, CR, HEI and HWM?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads on 7. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.