Southwest Airlines (LUV) Competitors

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

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 preferable valuation & earnings, 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	0.71	$465M	$0.85	40.06
American Airlines Group	$54.21B	0.14	$846M	$0.90	12.98

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of LUV or AAL?

80.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.4% of American Airlines Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of Southwest Airlines shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of American Airlines Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts prefer LUV or AAL?

Southwest Airlines presently has a consensus price target of $32.31, suggesting a potential downside of 5.10%. American Airlines Group has a consensus price target of $15.84, suggesting a potential upside of 35.63%. Given American Airlines Group's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly 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)	8 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
American Airlines Group	1 Sell rating(s)	7 Hold rating(s)	9 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Does the media prefer LUV or AAL?

In the previous week, Southwest Airlines had 5 more articles in the media than American Airlines Group. MarketBeat recorded 23 mentions for Southwest Airlines and 18 mentions for American Airlines Group. American Airlines Group's average media sentiment score of 0.68 beat Southwest Airlines' score of 0.30 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	1 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
American Airlines Group	13 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk & volatility, LUV or AAL?

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

Summary

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