Delta Air Lines (DAL) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer DAL or UAL?

Delta Air Lines currently has a consensus target price of $62.08, indicating a potential upside of 29.34%. United Airlines has a consensus target price of $102.33, indicating a potential upside of 38.66%. Given United Airlines' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe United Airlines is more favorable than Delta Air Lines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Delta Air Lines	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	10 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
United Airlines	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	14 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.06

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, DAL or UAL?

Delta Air Lines has higher revenue and earnings than United Airlines. United 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
Delta Air Lines	$61.94B	0.51	$3.46B	$5.64	8.51
United Airlines	$57.74B	0.42	$3.15B	$10.97	6.73

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer DAL or UAL?

Delta Air Lines received 251 more outperform votes than United Airlines when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 76.55% of users gave Delta Air Lines an outperform vote while only 66.75% of users gave United Airlines an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Delta Air Lines	Outperform Votes 1263 76.55%	Underperform Votes 387 23.45%
United Airlines	Outperform Votes 1012 66.75%	Underperform Votes 504 33.25%

Which has more risk & volatility, DAL or UAL?

Delta Air Lines has a beta of 1.46, meaning that its stock price is 46% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Airlines has a beta of 1.39, meaning that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

69.9% of Delta Air Lines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.7% of United Airlines shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Delta Air Lines shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of United Airlines shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to DAL or UAL?

In the previous week, United Airlines had 2 more articles in the media than Delta Air Lines. MarketBeat recorded 39 mentions for United Airlines and 37 mentions for Delta Air Lines. United Airlines' average media sentiment score of 1.29 beat Delta Air Lines' score of 1.11 indicating that United Airlines is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Delta Air Lines	24 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United Airlines	25 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is DAL or UAL more profitable?

Delta Air Lines has a net margin of 5.61% compared to United Airlines' net margin of 5.52%. United Airlines' return on equity of 32.26% beat Delta Air Lines' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Delta Air Lines	5.61%	30.41%	5.30%
United Airlines	5.52%	32.26%	4.84%

Summary

Delta Air Lines beats United Airlines on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.