Southwest Airlines (LUV) Competitors

Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, valuation and risk.

Does the media favor LUV or DAL?

In the previous week, Southwest Airlines had 9 more articles in the media than Delta Air Lines. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Southwest Airlines and 16 mentions for Delta Air Lines. Delta Air Lines' average media sentiment score of 0.68 beat Southwest Airlines' score of 0.66 indicating that Delta Air Lines is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Airlines	7 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Delta Air Lines	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, LUV or DAL?

Delta Air Lines has higher revenue and earnings than Southwest Airlines. Southwest Airlines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Delta Air Lines, 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	$27.38B	0.73	$465M	-$0.07	-475.43
Delta Air Lines	$60.31B	0.65	$4.61B	$7.20	8.46

Is LUV or DAL more profitable?

Delta Air Lines has a net margin of 7.71% compared to Southwest Airlines' net margin of -0.06%. Delta Air Lines' return on equity of 29.93% beat Southwest Airlines' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Airlines	-0.06%	4.56%	1.33%
Delta Air Lines	7.71%	29.93%	4.83%

Is LUV or DAL a better dividend stock?

Southwest Airlines pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. Delta Air Lines pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Southwest Airlines pays out -1,028.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Delta Air Lines pays out 8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Southwest Airlines is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts rate LUV or DAL?

Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus target price of $31.37, suggesting a potential downside of 5.74%. Delta Air Lines has a consensus target price of $75.83, suggesting a potential upside of 24.46%. Given Delta Air Lines' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Delta Air Lines is more favorable than Southwest Airlines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Airlines	4 Sell rating(s)	11 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.94
Delta Air Lines	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.07

Which has more risk & volatility, LUV or DAL?

Southwest Airlines has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Delta Air Lines has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer LUV or DAL?

Delta Air Lines received 110 more outperform votes than Southwest Airlines when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 76.66% of users gave Delta Air Lines an outperform vote while only 69.10% of users gave Southwest Airlines an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Southwest Airlines	Outperform Votes 1138 69.10%	Underperform Votes 509 30.90%
Delta Air Lines	Outperform Votes 1248 76.66%	Underperform Votes 380 23.34%

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in LUV or DAL?

80.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.9% of Delta Air Lines shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Southwest Airlines shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Delta Air Lines shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Delta Air Lines beats Southwest Airlines on 16 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.