United Airlines (UAL) Competitors

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

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, AAL or UAL?

United Airlines has higher revenue and earnings than American Airlines Group. United Airlines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than American Airlines 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
American Airlines Group	$54.21B	0.16	$846M	$0.80	15.95
United Airlines	$57.06B	0.55	$3.15B	$9.98	9.80

Does the media prefer AAL or UAL?

In the previous week, United Airlines had 34 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 46 mentions for United Airlines and 12 mentions for American Airlines Group. American Airlines Group's average media sentiment score of 1.48 beat United Airlines' score of 1.25 indicating that American Airlines Group is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Airlines Group	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Airlines	26 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of United Airlines shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of United Airlines shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more volatility and risk, AAL or UAL?

American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Airlines has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its stock price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts prefer AAL or UAL?

American Airlines Group presently has a consensus target price of $16.76, suggesting a potential upside of 31.36%. United Airlines has a consensus target price of $111.43, suggesting a potential upside of 13.94%. Given American Airlines Group's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe American Airlines Group is more favorable than United Airlines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Airlines Group	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63
United Airlines	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.06

Is AAL or UAL more profitable?

United Airlines has a net margin of 5.71% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.05%. United Airlines' return on equity of 30.09% beat American Airlines Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Airlines Group	1.05%	-24.55%	1.68%
United Airlines	5.71%	30.09%	5.03%

Summary

United Airlines beats American Airlines Group on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.