With government spending being a big issue on Capitol Hill, big defense contracts are clearly in the cross-hairs. Ramped-up rhetoric about reducing U.S. military expenses and the troop presence in Afghanistan and elsewhere means publicly traded defense companies have a tough road ahead of them.
I watch more than 5,000 publicly traded companies with my Portfolio Grader tool, ranking companies by a number of fundamental and quantitative measures. Today, I have 10 defense stocks to sell.
Each one of these stocks gets a “D” or “F” according to my research, meaning it is a “sell” or “strong sell.”
Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT) is an international defense electronics company involved with a wide range of programs across the globe. ESLT has performed poorly in 2011, down 24% year to date.
DigitalGlobe (NYSE:DGI) provides high-resolution Earth imagery product and services for homeland security applications, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring and other fields. DGI has instilled worry in the hearts of its shareholders all year, dropping nearly 38% year to date.
General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) is known for providing a variety of products and services in business aviation. GD has done anything but soar, however, and is down nearly 19% since January.
Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) specializes in defense, homeland security and other government markets. Down more than 13% year to date, RTN has shareholders wishing they ditched this defense stock before the start of 2011.
ITT (NYSE:ITT) is a global engineering and manufacturing organization that operates in more than 60 countries. Despite a worldwide presence, ITT is down 17% year to date.
L-3 Communications Holdings (NYSE:LLL) contracts Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C3ISR) systems and is engaged with a variety of other activities. LLL is down 12% year to date.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings (NYSE:SPR) is known for manufacturing commercial aerostructures and designing aircraft parts for Boeing (NYSE:BA). Year to date, SPR has performed much worse than the broader markets, dropping 21% in almost 10 months.
Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) produces military small-caliber ammunition for use in soldier-carried weapons. ATK is one of the bigger losers on this defense stocks list, down more than 26% year to date.
Moog (NYSE:MOG.A) designs, manufactures and integrates applications for the aerospace and defense, industrial and medical markets. A 18% year-to-date drop for Moog has left a bad taste in shareholders’ mouths all year.
AerCap Holdings (NYSE:AER) is an integrated global aviation company that also has watched its stock value drop a disappointing 29% since the start of 2011.
Get more analysis of these picks and other publicly-traded stocks with Louis Navellier’s Portfolio Grader tool, a 100% free stock-rating tool that measures both quantitative buying pressure and eight fundamental factors.
