5 Defense Stocks to Buy As Geopolitical Tensions Rise

4. Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 42 

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) provides advanced engineering solutions for the aerospace industry. In early December, Morgan Stanley analyst Kristine Liwag had initiated coverage of the stock with an Overweight rating and a price target of $40, noting that the firm was poised to benefit from the meaningful upside in earnings from higher aircraft production rates in the coming months. 

Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) continues to be one of the top defense stocks on Wall Street. At the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, 42 hedge funds in the database of Insider Monkey held stakes worth $3.5 billion in Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM), compared to 44 in the preceding quarter worth $3.4 billion.

In its Q4 2020 investor letter, FPA Crescent Fund, an asset management firm, highlighted a few stocks and Howmet Aerospace Inc. (NYSE:HWM) was one of them. Here is what the fund said:

“Howmet saw its stock price decline by around two-thirds from their Q1 2020 highs. Howmet’s price increased about three times from its low and ended the year at its all-time high. The value of its necessary and large market share business did not fluctuate as much as its stock price.”