Aerospace, space exploration, and the military industrial complex are excellent investments. Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) paid a $1.45 quarterly dividend on 28 August 2020.
That dividend grew from $1.32 on 21 February 2020. Overall, Northrop Grumman (NOC) offered an annual dividend of $5.16 and a dividend yield of 1.68% on 9 November 2020. Moreover, Dividend.com credits Northrup Grumman with 12 years of dividend growth.
That dividend could be safe because Stockrow estimates Northrop Grumman achieved a revenue growth rate of 7.17% for the quarter ending on 30 September 2020. Moreover, Northrop Grumman’s quarterly revenues grew from $8.884 billion on 30 June 2020 to $9.083 billion on 30 September 2020.
Northrop Grumman makes Enormous Amounts of Money
Northrop Grumman (NOC) reported a quarterly gross profit of $1.84 billion on 30 September 2020. The quarterly gross profit grew from $1.826 billion on 30 June 2020 and $1.772 billion on 31 March 2020.
However, Northrop Grumman’s quarterly operating income fell from $994 million on 30 June 2020 to $985 million on 30 September 2020. Impressively, Northrop Grumman reported a quarterly operating cash flow of $2.337 billion on 30 June 2020. That quarterly operating cash flow fell to $1.359 billion on 30 September 2020.
Northrop Grumman reported a quarterly ending cash flow of $817 million on 30 September 2020. The quarterly ending cash flow fell from $900 million on 30 June 2020 and $3.278 billion on 31 March 2020.
Northrop Grumman offers Enormous Value
Northrop Grumman (NOC) offers enormous value. The company had $44.772 billion in total assets on 30 September 2020. The total assets rose from $40.553 billion on 30 September 2019.
Northrop Grumman reported a quarterly ending cash flow of $3.278 billion on 31 March 2020. That quarterly ending cash flow fell to $900 million on 30 June 2020 and $817 million on September 30, 2020.
Northrop Grumman had $4.995 billion in cash and short-term investments on 30 September 2020. In 2020, Northrop Grumman’s cash and short-term investments grew from $2.245 billion on 31 December 2019 to $4.995 billion on 30 September 2020.
However, I do not consider Northrop Grumman a value investment because I think Mr. Market overpriced it at $306.23 on 11 November 2020. Additionally, Northrop Grumman’s share price fell in 2020. NOC began 2020 at $355.70 on 2 January 2020.
Yet, I consider Northrop Grumman a widow’s and orphan’s stock because it has enormous amounts of cash and pays an terrific dividend. Northrup Grumman is a widow’s and orphan’s stock because it is a safe money maker.
Unfortunately, Northrop Grumman makes much of that money from weapons. Northrup Grumman’s products include artillery, mortars, missiles, military robots, and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). Hence, Northrop Grumman builds delivery systems for nuclear weapons.
Many people will have serious moral objections to Northrop Grumman because of the weapons.
Taking America back to the Moon
Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) has an impressive legacy in space exploration. In fact, one of its predecessors built the lunar module that took the Apollo 13 astronauts to the Moon in 1969.
Today Northrop Grumman could design and build the Habitation and Logistics Outpost, or HALO, module for NASA’s proposed Lunar Gateway. The Lunar Gateway is part of NASA’s Artemis Project to return Americans to the Moon. The HALO will use Northrup Grumman’s Cygnus space capsule to fly to the moon and back.
Additionally, Northrop Grumman is part of the National Team, which is developing the Human Landing System for NASA. The Human Landing System will be a next generation lunar module to take astronauts back to the moon.
Northrop is partnering with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) on the Human Landing System. The US Congress has appropriated $600 million for the development of the Human Landing System project. The program will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lunar lander to take astronauts and cargo to the moon’s surface.
The National Team has delivered a full-scale engineering prototype or mockup of the Blue Moon lander to NASA, Techcrunch reports. They are testing the Blue Moon at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
The current plan is for a Moon landing in 2024. However, President-Elect Joe Biden (D-Delaware) could pull the plug on that programming. The Moon landing scheme was one of President Donald J. Trump’s (R-Florida) initiatives. Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and will leave office in January 2021.
Investing in Space Exploration
Other space exploration efforts at Northrop Grumman include the Space Logistics and Mission Extension vehicles.
They design the vehicles built by subsidiary SpaceLogistics LLC to maintain and service satellites in orbits. If it works as advertised, The Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) will extend another satellite’s life in orbit.
In addition, Northrop Grumman is only one of two commercial companies that will provide cargo resupply services to the International Space Station (ISS.). Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsules take cargo to and from the ISS.
Thus, if you want to invest in space exploration, Northrop Grumman is an excellent choice. Unlike the two most prominent space exploration companies; Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Northrop is a publicly traded company.
Moreover, Northrop Grumman could be the ultimate growth company because it invests in space. In addition, Northrop Grumman is a major builder of satellites. Northrop Grumman’s satellite projects include the Milstar Communications Network and the R3D2 small satellites.
Scientific space exploration programs at Northrop Grumman include the James Webb Space Telescope, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Dawn Asteroid Explorer.
People seeking a safe moneymaking company that could have an enormous future need to investigate Northrop Grumman (NOC). In addition, people who want to invest in space travel need to investigate Northrop Grumman. Northrop is a space exploration company that pays an impressive dividend.
Originally published at https://marketmadhouse.com on November 12, 2020.
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