Alaska Air Group (ALK) Competitors

Alaska Air Group (NYSE:ALK) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) are both transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation, community ranking, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Does the media prefer ALK or UAL?

In the previous week, United Airlines had 36 more articles in the media than Alaska Air Group. MarketBeat recorded 60 mentions for United Airlines and 24 mentions for Alaska Air Group. United Airlines' average media sentiment score of 0.79 beat Alaska Air Group's score of 0.47 indicating that United Airlines is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alaska Air Group	8 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
United Airlines	30 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is ALK or UAL more profitable?

United Airlines has a net margin of 5.52% compared to Alaska Air Group's net margin of 3.37%. United Airlines' return on equity of 32.26% beat Alaska Air Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alaska Air Group	3.37%	14.66%	3.60%
United Airlines	5.52%	32.26%	4.84%

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, ALK or UAL?

United Airlines has higher revenue and earnings than Alaska Air Group. United Airlines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alaska Air Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alaska Air Group	$11.74B	0.49	$395M	$3.05	15.22
United Airlines	$57.06B	0.39	$3.15B	$9.43	7.17

Do insiders & institutionals believe in ALK or UAL?

81.9% of Alaska Air Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of United Airlines shares are held by institutional investors. 0.7% of Alaska Air Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of United Airlines shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ALK or UAL?

United Airlines received 157 more outperform votes than Alaska Air Group when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 70.17% of users gave Alaska Air Group an outperform vote while only 66.71% of users gave United Airlines an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Alaska Air Group	Outperform Votes 849 70.17%	Underperform Votes 361 29.83%
United Airlines	Outperform Votes 1006 66.71%	Underperform Votes 502 33.29%

Do analysts prefer ALK or UAL?

Alaska Air Group currently has a consensus price target of $70.15, indicating a potential upside of 51.17%. United Airlines has a consensus price target of $102.01, indicating a potential upside of 50.88%. Given Alaska Air Group's higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Alaska Air Group is more favorable than United Airlines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alaska Air Group	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.92
United Airlines	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility and risk, ALK or UAL?

Alaska Air Group has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Airlines has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

United Airlines beats Alaska Air Group on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.