Copa (CPA) Competitors

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

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AAL or CPA?

52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 70.1% of Copa shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, AAL or CPA?

American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Copa has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor AAL or CPA?

In the previous week, American Airlines Group had 27 more articles in the media than Copa. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for American Airlines Group and 4 mentions for Copa. Copa's average media sentiment score of 0.81 beat American Airlines Group's score of 0.73 indicating that Copa is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
American Airlines Group	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Copa	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer AAL or CPA?

American Airlines Group currently has a consensus price target of $15.89, suggesting a potential upside of 30.07%. Copa has a consensus price target of $153.00, suggesting a potential upside of 38.49%. Given Copa's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Copa is more favorable than American Airlines Group.

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
Copa	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Is AAL or CPA more profitable?

Copa has a net margin of 17.66% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.26%. Copa's return on equity of 25.91% beat American Airlines Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Airlines Group	1.26%	-26.59%	1.91%
Copa	17.66%	25.91%	10.88%

Which has better earnings and valuation, AAL or CPA?

American Airlines Group has higher revenue and earnings than Copa. Copa 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	$54.19B	0.15	$846M	$0.90	13.58
Copa	$3.45B	1.32	$608.11M	$14.65	7.54

Is AAL or CPA a better dividend stock?

American Airlines Group pays an annual dividend of $0.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Copa pays an annual dividend of $6.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. American Airlines Group pays out 44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Copa pays out 44.0% 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. Copa has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Copa is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Copa beats American Airlines Group on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.