Delta Air Lines (DAL) Competitors

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) and Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations and media sentiment.

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

52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 69.9% of Delta Air Lines shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Delta Air Lines 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.

Which has more risk and volatility, AAL or DAL?

American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Delta Air Lines has a beta of 1.49, meaning that its share price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AAL or DAL more profitable?

Delta Air Lines has a net margin of 7.24% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.26%. Delta Air Lines' return on equity of 24.86% 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%
Delta Air Lines	7.24%	24.86%	5.01%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, AAL or DAL?

Delta Air Lines has higher revenue and earnings than American Airlines Group. Delta Air Lines 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	0.15	$846M	$0.90	13.58
Delta Air Lines	$61.64B	0.60	$3.46B	$6.90	8.22

Do analysts rate AAL or DAL?

American Airlines Group presently has a consensus price target of $15.89, suggesting a potential upside of 30.07%. Delta Air Lines has a consensus price target of $64.69, suggesting a potential upside of 14.06%. Given American Airlines Group's higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe American Airlines Group is more favorable than Delta Air Lines.

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
Delta Air Lines	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media prefer AAL or DAL?

In the previous week, Delta Air Lines had 90 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 121 mentions for Delta Air Lines and 31 mentions for American Airlines Group. American Airlines Group's average media sentiment score of 0.65 beat Delta Air Lines' score of 0.65 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	17 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Delta Air Lines	52 Very Positive mention(s)	16 Positive mention(s)	36 Neutral mention(s)	7 Negative mention(s)	3 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Delta Air Lines beats American Airlines Group on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.