Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:MESA) vs. Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY) Head-To-Head Comparison

Mesa Air Group (NASDAQ:MESA) and Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

13.3% of Mesa Air Group shares are held by institutional investors. 4.6% of Mesa Air Group shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Mesa Air Group and Air China, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mesa Air Group	1	0	0	0	1.00
Air China	0	0	0	0	0.00

Profitability

This table compares Mesa Air Group and Air China’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mesa Air Group	-43.65%	-1,171.23%	-2.14%
Air China	0.47%	2.01%	0.23%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mesa Air Group and Air China”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mesa Air Group	$476.41 million	0.11	-$91.01 million	($4.29)	-0.29
Air China	$23.19 billion	0.51	-$32.35 million	$0.14	101.79

Air China has higher revenue and earnings than Mesa Air Group. Mesa Air Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Air China, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Mesa Air Group has a beta of 3.03, suggesting that its stock price is 203% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air China has a beta of 0.13, suggesting that its stock price is 87% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Air China beats Mesa Air Group on 8 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mesa Air Group

Mesa Air Group, Inc. operates as the holding company for Mesa Airlines, Inc. that provides regional air carrier scheduled passenger services. The company offers scheduled flight and cargo services. As of September 30, 2023, it operated a fleet of 80 aircraft with approximately 296 daily departures to 86 cities in the United States and Mexico. Mesa Air Group, Inc. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.

About Air China

Air China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides air passenger, air cargo, and airline-related services in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China, and internationally. The company operates in Airline Operations and Other Operations segments. It provides aircraft engineering and airport ground handling services. The company is also involved in the import and export trading activities; and provision of cabin, airline catering, air ticketing, human resources, aircraft overhaul and maintenance, and financial services. Air China Limited was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.