Northrop Grumman Corporation vs Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF — how do they compare? Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $578 (market cap $81.78B), while Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF trades at $382.38. The key difference: Northrop Grumman Corporation pays a 1.63% dividend while Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF pays none, and Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund ETF is trading nearer its 52-week high, Northrop Grumman Corporation nearer its low. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| NOC | VTI | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $81.78B | — |
Sector | Industrials | — |
52-Week High | $768.02 | $381.83 |
52-Week Low | $496.02 | $311.68 |
Enterprise Value | $95.77B | — |
Dividend Yield | 1.63% | — |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $577.11, down 0.13% on the day, with a bullish technical trend supported by moving averages despite overbought RSI signals. The company reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating EPS estimates with a record $105 billion backlog, driven by defense contracts like the Sentinel program. Fundamentals show solid profitability with a 10.48% net income margin and 26.96% ROE, though valuation ratios like P/E of 18.3 are moderate. Recent news highlights a $3 billion missile-interceptor agreement, reinforcing growth prospects.
Outlook remains positive with analyst consensus favoring Buy (57% of ratings) and a $598.57 price target, implying ~4% upside. Key opportunities include sustained defense spending and backlog execution, while risks involve margin pressures from specific programs and geopolitical dependencies. The stock's proximity to its 52-week high suggests cautious optimism amid robust operational performance.
VTI trades at $381.83, up 0.05% with a bullish technical signal from moving averages and strong institutional inflows. The ETF's 0.03% expense ratio and over 3,500 holdings provide broad U.S. equity exposure. Recent dividend of $1.04 was declared for June 2026.
Outlook remains positive due to low-cost diversification and steady institutional demand. Risks include market volatility and concentration in large-cap tech. Long-term growth potential is supported by historical performance but requires monitoring of economic conditions.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →The fund employs an indexing investment approach designed to track the performance of the index, which represents approximately 100% of the investable US stock market and includes large-, mid-, small-, and micro-cap stocks. It invests by sampling the index, meaning that it holds a broadly diversified collection of securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full index in terms of key characteristics.
Read more on VTI →