Southwest Airlines (LUV) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate LUV or AAL?

Southwest Airlines currently has a consensus price target of $33.13, suggesting a potential downside of 9.30%. American Airlines Group has a consensus price target of $15.89, suggesting a potential upside of 27.06%. Given American Airlines Group's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe American Airlines Group is more favorable than Southwest Airlines.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Southwest Airlines	5 Sell rating(s)	9 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.94
American Airlines Group	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Which has better earnings and valuation, LUV or AAL?

American Airlines Group has higher revenue and earnings than Southwest Airlines. American Airlines Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Southwest Airlines, 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	$27.48B	0.76	$465M	$0.85	42.96
American Airlines Group	$54.21B	0.15	$846M	$0.90	13.90

Is LUV or AAL more profitable?

Southwest Airlines has a net margin of 1.98% compared to American Airlines Group's net margin of 1.26%. Southwest Airlines' return on equity of 7.27% beat American Airlines Group's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Southwest Airlines	1.98%	7.27%	2.15%
American Airlines Group	1.26%	-26.59%	1.91%

Which has more volatility & risk, LUV or AAL?

Southwest Airlines has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its stock price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, American Airlines Group has a beta of 1.36, indicating that its stock price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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

80.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor LUV or AAL?

In the previous week, Southwest Airlines had 6 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Southwest Airlines and 18 mentions for American Airlines Group. American Airlines Group's average media sentiment score of 0.63 beat Southwest Airlines' score of 0.52 indicating that American Airlines Group is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Southwest Airlines	9 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
American Airlines Group	10 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

American Airlines Group beats Southwest Airlines on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.