Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL): Today's Featured Aerospace/Defense Loser

Rockwell Collins ( COL) pushed the Aerospace/Defense industry lower today making it today's featured Aerospace/Defense loser. The industry as a whole closed the day down 0.6%. By the end of trading, Rockwell Collins fell 82 cents (-1.7%) to $47.76 on light volume. Throughout the day, 844,831 shares of Rockwell Collins exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 1.3 million shares. The stock ranged in price between $47.60-$48.50 after having opened the day at $48.45 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $48.58. Other company's within the Aerospace/Defense industry that declined today were: AerCap Holdings N.V ( AER), down 6.4%, Alliant Techsystems ( ATK), down 3.9%, Astrotech Corporation ( ASTC), down 3.6%, and Elbit Systems ( ESLT), down 3.1%.

Rockwell Collins, Inc. designs, produces, and supports communications and aviation electronics for commercial and military customers worldwide. It operates in two segments, Government Systems and Commercial Systems. Rockwell Collins has a market cap of $6.96 billion and is part of the industrial goods sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 12.1, above the average aerospace/defense industry P/E ratio of 11.7 and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are down 13.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are nine analysts that rate Rockwell Collins a buy, one analyst rates it a sell, and six rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Rockwell Collins as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its growth in earnings per share, increase in net income, notable return on equity, expanding profit margins and good cash flow from operations. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the aerospace/defense industry could consider iShares DJ US Aerospace & Def Idx ( ITA) while those bearish on the aerospace/defense industry could consider ProShares Short Dow 30 ( DOG).
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