CR vs HWM vs WWD Stock Comparison

Crane, Howmet Aerospace and Woodward Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
CR Crane Co
$205.74 -1.3% 1M +6.5% 1Y
Market cap
$11.43B
P/E
33.4x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.76B
Div. yield
–
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
3 wins
HWM Howmet Aerospace Inc.
$205.71 -10.9% 1M +1.1% 1Y
Market cap
$79.38B
P/E
38.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$9.73B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
5 wins
WWD Woodward, Inc.
$314.92 -4.5% 1M +17.8% 1Y
Market cap
$18.07B
P/E
32.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$4.19B
Div. yield
0.00%
Commercial Aerospace Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Howmet Aerospace leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Howmet Aerospace 5, Woodward 4, Crane 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionCRHWMWWDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $11.43B $79.38B $18.07B HWM
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 33.4x 38.7x 32.7x WWD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 30.9x 39.6x 32.4x CR
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +21.5% +22.0% +22.3% WWD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 12.4% 21.1% 13.2% HWM
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 11.5% 21.5% 14.1% HWM
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.1x 1.4x 1.1x CR
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% WWD
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +6.5% +1.1% +17.8% WWD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — +47.3%/yr +22.8%/yr HWM
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 33.7% 35.5% 38.4% CR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 66/100 73/100 71/100 HWM

Percentile Scorecard

CRHWMWWD

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

AxisCRHWMWWD
Valuation 49 #52 of 100 40 #60 of 100 48 #53 of 100
Growth 71 #29 of 96 90 #11 of 96 87 #13 of 96
Profitability 88 #12 of 95 99 #2 of 95 85 #15 of 95
Financial Health 66 #36 of 105 47 #56 of 105 55 #48 of 105
Shareholder Returns 56 #29 of 65 88 #9 of 65 80 #14 of 65
Overall 66 73 71
  • CR ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • HWM ranked among 107 companies in Aerospace and Defense
  • WWD 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

PeriodCRHWMWWDSPY
1 month -1.3%-10.9%-4.5% +0.7%
3 months -4.0%-25.8%-11.6% +3.7%
6 months +15.8%-15.4%-13.2% +7.1%
Year to date +11.6%+0.3%+4.2% +12.8%
1 year +6.5%+1.1%+17.8% +11.9%
3 years +119.0%+371.8%+160.6% +85.2%
3 years, per year +29.9%+67.8%+37.6% +22.8%
5 years —+592.9%+178.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year —+47.3%+22.8% +10.9%
10 years ——+438.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year ——+18.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureCRHWMWWDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 33.7%35.5%38.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 36.9%36.5%34.1% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.441.091.27 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.190.030.46 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -28.2%-36.5%-37.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -9.1%-29.7%-27.8% -1.2%
52-week high $226.38$292.71$436.44 $779.14
52-week low $160.86$185.88$257.64 $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.

MultipleCRHWMWWD
P/E now vs peer median 34.8xmedian 26.9x 39.9xmedian 26.9x 33.9xmedian 26.9x
P/S now vs peer median 4.3xmedian 3.0x 8.4xmedian 3.0x 4.4xmedian 3.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 21.5xmedian 15.0x 28.2xmedian 15.0x 25.1xmedian 15.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median 31.3xmedian 27.2x 42.4xmedian 27.2x 49.4xmedian 27.2x
P/B now vs peer median 5.2xmedian 2.5x 14.2xmedian 2.5x 7.5xmedian 2.5x
PEG now vs peer median 10.65median 0.93 0.81median 0.93 0.85median 0.93

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 monthsCRHWMWWD
Revenue $2.76B $9.73B $4.19B
Gross profit $1.15B $3.56B $1.24B
Operating income $486.80M $2.73B $655.75M
Net income $342.00M $2.05B $552.03M
Free cash flow $379.80M $1.93B $376.53M
R&D – $38.00M $172.23M
EPS (diluted) $5.82 $5.13 $9.05
Cash & equivalents $315.70M $507.00M $474.85M
Total debt $928.50M $4.83B $1.34B
Shares (diluted) 58.80M 400.00M 61.02M
Enterprise value $9.90B $75.14B $16.32B

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
MetricCRHWMWWD
P/E 34.8x 39.9x 33.9x
P/FCF 31.3x 42.4x 49.4x
P/Operating cash flow 27.9x 34.1x 31.8x
P/S 4.3x 8.4x 4.4x
P/B 5.2x 14.2x 7.5x
P/Tangible book 7.3x 16.7x 9.2x
EV/EBITDA 21.5x 28.2x 25.1x
EV/EBIT 25.7x 31.6x 29.7x
EV/Revenue 4.5x 8.9x 4.6x
EV/FCF 32.9x 44.7x 51.7x
EV/Operating cash flow 29.3x 35.9x 33.3x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 10.65 0.81 0.85

Growth

14 metrics
MetricCRHWMWWD
Revenue growth (1Y) 21.5% 22.0% 22.3%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 19.7% 14.9% 14.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 20.1% 33.7% 39.3%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 18.4% 26.3% 25.5%
Operating income growth (1Y) 19.1% 36.4% 54.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 33.6% 35.5% 40.8%
Net income growth (1Y) -6.5% 41.6% 42.4%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 9.6% 47.5% 39.4%
EPS growth (1Y) -6.8% 43.6% 43.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 3.3% 49.5% 39.8%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 9.2% 40.3% 54.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 43.8% 38.8% 30.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 13.9% 50.9% 35.9%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.5% 41.0% 25.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricCRHWMWWD
Gross margin 41.5% 36.6% 29.5%
EBITDA margin 21.1% 31.4% 18.5%
Operating margin 17.7% 28.1% 15.6%
Pretax margin 16.3% 25.8% 16.5%
Net margin 12.4% 21.1% 13.2%
FCF margin 13.8% 19.8% 9.0%
Operating cash flow margin 15.5% 24.7% 14.0%
Return on equity 15.4% 35.7% 22.1%
Return on assets 8.5% 15.5% 10.9%
Return on invested capital 11.5% 21.5% 14.1%
Return on capital employed 14.1% 24.7% 17.9%
Asset turnover 0.7x 0.7x 0.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.2x 1.2x 1.1x
Stock comp / revenue 0.7% 1.0% 1.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricCRHWMWWD
Debt / assets 23.2% 36.4% 25.8%
Debt / equity 0.4x 0.8x 0.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.1x 1.4x 1.1x
Debt / FCF 2.4x 2.5x 3.6x
Liabilities / assets 43.2% 56.6% 52.4%
Equity / assets 56.8% 43.4% 47.6%
Interest coverage 10.0x – 13.8x
Current ratio 2.6x 1.9x 1.6x
Quick ratio 1.5x 0.7x 1.3x
Cash ratio 0.6x 0.2x 0.3x
Altman Z-score 6.11 8.71 6.60

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricCRHWMWWD
Dividend yield 0.5% 0.2% 0.4%
Net buyback yield 0.0% 1.6% 2.9%
Shareholder yield 0.5% 1.8% 3.3%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 9.9% 13.0%
Payout ratio (FCF) – 10.5% 19.0%
Dividend growth (1Y) – 23.8% 13.7%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – 43.3% 13.4%

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.

ConsensusCRHWMWWD
Forward P/E 30.9xFY2026 39.6xFY2026 32.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.66FY2026 $5.19FY2026 $9.72FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +10.1%FY2026 +37.7%FY2026 +41.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.8% +31.2% +15.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $2.96BFY2026 $10.37BFY2026 $4.04BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +28.1%FY2026 +25.7%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -2.8% +15.9% +13.7%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersCRHWMWWD
Held by institutions 78.3% 91.0% 90.3%
Institutions holding 599 1,601 759
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.6% +0.7% +3.3%
Institutions buying 314 908 387
Institutions selling 187 484 256
Buyers to sellers 1.68 1.88 1.51

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.

CRHWMWWD
CR 1.00 0.56 0.59
HWM 0.56 1.00 0.57
WWD 0.59 0.57 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, CR, HWM and WWD?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) is the largest by market capitalisation: Crane (CR) $11.43B, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) $79.38B, Woodward (WWD) $18.07B.

Which stock is cheaper, CR, HWM and WWD?

Woodward (WWD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Crane (CR) 33.4x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 38.7x, Woodward (WWD) 32.7x). On next year's consensus earnings, Crane (CR) is cheapest (Crane (CR) 30.9x, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 39.6x, Woodward (WWD) 32.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Woodward (WWD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Crane (CR) +21.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +22.0%, Woodward (WWD) +22.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Howmet Aerospace (HWM) has the highest net margin (Crane (CR) 12.4%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.1%, Woodward (WWD) 13.2%). On return on invested capital, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) leads (Crane (CR) 11.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 21.5%, Woodward (WWD) 14.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Woodward (WWD) returned the most: Crane (CR) +6.5%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +1.1%, Woodward (WWD) +17.8%. Over five years, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) compounded fastest (Howmet Aerospace (HWM) +47.3%/yr, Woodward (WWD) +22.8%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

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

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Crane (CR) has been the steadiest (Crane (CR) 33.7%, Howmet Aerospace (HWM) 35.5%, Woodward (WWD) 38.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

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

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 5. 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.