Southwest Airlines (LUV) Competitors

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, media sentiment, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Is LUV or AAL more profitable?

Southwest Airlines has a net margin of 1.43% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.05%. Southwest Airlines' return on equity of 6.27% beat American Airlines Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Airlines	1.43%	6.27%	1.83%
American Airlines Group	1.05%	-24.55%	1.68%

Do institutionals & insiders have more ownership in LUV or AAL?

80.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts prefer LUV or AAL?

Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus target price of $33.06, suggesting a potential upside of 2.27%. American Airlines Group has a consensus target price of $16.94, suggesting a potential upside of 26.05%. Given American Airlines Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Airlines Group is more favorable than Southwest Airlines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Airlines	6 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.89
American Airlines Group	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Does the media refer more to LUV or AAL?

In the previous week, Southwest Airlines had 1 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for Southwest Airlines and 12 mentions for American Airlines Group. Southwest Airlines' average media sentiment score of 1.20 beat American Airlines Group's score of 0.86 indicating that Southwest Airlines is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Airlines	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Airlines Group	5 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation and earnings, LUV or AAL?

American Airlines Group has higher revenue and earnings than Southwest Airlines. American Airlines Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Airlines, 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
Southwest Airlines	$27.48B	0.62	$465M	$0.66	48.98
American Airlines Group	$54.21B	0.16	$846M	$0.80	16.80

Which has more volatility & risk, LUV or AAL?

Southwest Airlines has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.4, meaning that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Southwest Airlines beats American Airlines Group on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.