Dividend Vision Lists
Defense Stocks
A curated list of the aerospace and defense companies — the prime contractors that build aircraft, missiles, and systems, the engine and component suppliers behind them, and the newer defense-technology names.
Updated July 2026 · 19 companies
DV Scorecard
Our proprietary snapshot of this list — averages and standouts, computed from the companies below. Not investment advice.
Aerospace and defense is one of the market's most durable industries, backed by multi-year government programs and long product cycles. This page gathers the companies that build and supply the sector, organized so you can see the primes, the suppliers, and the emerging defense-technology names side by side.
The list spans the large prime contractors that build aircraft, missiles, ships, and integrated systems; the engine, component, and materials suppliers embedded in those platforms; and a newer wave of defense-technology companies in software, drones, and autonomy. Many of the established primes and suppliers are steady dividend payers with long track records, while some of the faster-growing tech names reinvest and pay little or nothing.
Dividend Vision's angle is the income and durability behind the sector: which of these companies pay a dividend, how safe that payout looks through our Distribution Safety Score, and how the group compares. Figures refresh live from our data pipeline on every build, and nothing here is investment advice.
Defense Stocks
Live data joins from our pipeline on every build — click any header to sort, or open a ticker for the full analysis. We never hard-code yields, prices, or returns.
| Ticker | Company | Role | Yield | Div growth (1y) | Safety | Fwd P/E | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GE | GE Aerospace | Industrials | 0.46% | +15.1% | 72 | 46.5 | $361.9B |
| PLTR | Palantir Technologies Inc. | AI Data Analytics | — | — | — | 91.7 | $317.4B |
| RTX | RTX Corp. | Industrials | 1.39% | +21.8% | 100 | 27.9 | $260.6B |
| BA | The Boeing Co. | Industrials | — | — | — | 833.3 | $168.7B |
| LMT | Lockheed Martin Corporation | Aerospace & Defense | 2.68% | +3.6% | 99 | 17.0 | $117.3B |
| HWM | Howmet Aerospace Inc. | Industrials | 0.17% | 0.0% | 100 | 52.6 | $109.0B |
| GD | General Dynamics Corporation | Aerospace & Defense | 1.69% | +42.1% | 100 | 22.6 | $99.7B |
| NOC | Northrop Grumman Corp. | Industrials | 1.76% | +0.3% | 100 | 18.6 | $74.1B |
| TDG | TransDigm Group Inc. | Industrials | 4.46% | — | 100 | 27.0 | $67.9B |
| LHX | L3Harris Technologies Inc. | Industrials | 1.71% | -32.3% | 100 | 25.1 | $52.5B |
| HEI | HEICO Corp. | — | 0.08% | — | 98 | 49.5 | $47.9B |
| AXON | Axon Enterprise Inc. | Industrials | — | — | — | 67.1 | $41.1B |
| CW | Curtiss-Wright Corp. | — | 0.13% | -41.8% | 100 | 28.4 | $26.1B |
| TXT | Textron Inc. | Industrials | 0.09% | 0.0% | 100 | 13.6 | $15.9B |
| BWXT | BWX Technologies Inc. | — | 0.59% | +48.4% | 100 | 38.8 | $15.7B |
| LDOS | Leidos Holdings Inc. | Industrials | 1.59% | +8.8% | 100 | 8.8 | $13.4B |
| HII | Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. | Industrials | 1.99% | +2.7% | 100 | 15.0 | $10.6B |
| KTOS | Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. | — | — | — | — | 78.1 | $8.6B |
| AVAV | AeroVironment, Inc. | Aerospace & Defense | — | — | — | 47.6 | $7.2B |
Why this list matters
Defense spending tends to be resilient across economic cycles, and the industry's long program backlogs can support steady, growing dividends — but it comes with its own risks.
Who it's for
- Income and defensive investors drawn to the sector's long backlogs and steady dividends
- Investors who want an organized view of primes, suppliers, and defense-tech in one place
- Growth investors mapping the newer software, drone, and autonomy names in defense
- Holders comparing a defense stock they own against its peers on yield and safety
Benefits
- Long-cycle government programs and large backlogs can provide unusually visible revenue
- Many established primes and suppliers have long records of paying and raising dividends
- The sector has historically been less tied to the consumer economy than most industries
Risks
- Heavy dependence on government budgets, which are subject to political and appropriations risk
- Program delays, cost overruns, and contract concentration can hit individual names hard
- The newer defense-technology names can be richly valued and pay little or no dividend
- Export approvals and geopolitics can shift the outlook quickly
- Some investors apply ethical or ESG screens that exclude parts of this sector
What to watch
- Whether a company pays a dividend and how well it's covered — start with the Distribution Safety Score and payout ratio
- The difference between a diversified prime, a specialized supplier, and an early-stage defense-tech name
- Backlog and program exposure — concentration in one contract adds risk
- Budget and geopolitical developments that shape the demand outlook
How we rank these investments
This page is a curated universe, not a ranked buy list — the table sorts on any column. These are the dimensions we surface and what each tells you.
- Distribution yield. The current dividend as a share of price. The large primes and suppliers here tend to pay more than the newer defense-technology names.
- Dividend growth. How fast the payout is rising — often a strong health signal for the established contractors with long records.
- Distribution Safety Score. Dividend Vision's proprietary read on how durable a payout looks, from the same one scorer used across the site. Non-payers carry no score.
- Valuation. Forward P/E and related measures put the growth expectations baked into the price in context.
- Total return. Price change plus dividends over time. On the primes and suppliers the dividend contributes a larger share than on defense-tech names.
- Business role. Prime contractor, component or engine supplier, or emerging defense-technology company — each carries a different risk and margin profile.
- Liquidity & size. Market capitalization and trading volume. Larger, more liquid names are easier to trade and tend to be less volatile.
- Payout ratio. The share of earnings paid as dividends — the cushion behind the next raise for the companies that pay one.
- Distribution frequency. How often a dividend is paid. The defense companies that pay generally do so quarterly.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a defense stock?
This page uses a curated view of aerospace and defense: the large prime contractors that build aircraft, missiles, ships, and systems; the engine, component, and materials suppliers behind them; and newer defense-technology companies in software, drones, and autonomy. It tracks 19 of them with live data.
Do defense stocks pay dividends?
Many of the established primes and suppliers do, often with long records of raising the payout. Some of the faster-growing defense-technology names reinvest and pay little or nothing. Each ticker page shows the current yield and our Distribution Safety Score.
Are defense stocks recession-resistant?
Defense revenue is tied to government budgets rather than consumer spending, so the sector has historically been more resilient than most through economic downturns. It is not immune, though — it carries its own budget, program, and political risks.
What's the difference between a prime contractor and a supplier?
A prime contractor holds the top-level government contract and integrates a whole platform, such as an aircraft or missile system. Suppliers provide the engines, components, and materials that go into those platforms. We flag each company's role because the risk and margin profiles differ.
Which defense stocks are best for dividend income?
We don't make individual recommendations, but income tends to concentrate in the large primes and established suppliers rather than the early-stage defense-tech names. Sort the table by yield or Safety Score to see where the paying names cluster, then review each on its own page.
What are defense-technology stocks?
They are newer companies focused on software, data, drones, and autonomy for defense applications, as opposed to traditional hardware primes. They can grow faster but are often more richly valued and less likely to pay a dividend.
What is the Distribution Safety Score?
It's Dividend Vision's proprietary measure of how durable a company's dividend looks, scored from 0 to 100 using the same single model applied across the site. Non-payers carry no score.
How is this different from a defense ETF?
An ETF bundles many of these names into one fund. This page lets you see and compare the individual companies, each linking to a full analysis, with a live DV Scorecard summarizing the group's yield and standouts.
How often is this list updated?
The membership is curated, while yields, prices, market caps, and Safety Scores refresh from our data pipeline on every build. The figures reflect the most recent data run, not a static snapshot.
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