United Airlines (UAL) vs. Its Competitors Financial Analysis

United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) is one of 78 public companies in the “Passenger Airlines” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare United Airlines to related companies based on the strength of its risk, profitability, dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares United Airlines and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
United Airlines	$65.55 billion	$3.35 billion	9.54
United Airlines Competitors	$15.10 billion	$637.69 million	18.46

United Airlines has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. United Airlines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares United Airlines and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
United Airlines	5.46%	17.59%	3.53%
United Airlines Competitors	-17.95%	6.05%	1.13%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

69.7% of United Airlines shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.8% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of United Airlines shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 10.5% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

United Airlines has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United Airlines’ competitors have a beta of 17.40, meaning that their average stock price is 1,640% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for United Airlines and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
United Airlines	1	1	16	0	2.83
United Airlines Competitors	1524	4058	6675	353	2.46

United Airlines presently has a consensus price target of $156.19, suggesting a potential upside of 49.83%. As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies have a potential upside of 15.07%. Given United Airlines’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe United Airlines is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

United Airlines beats its competitors on 9 of the 13 factors compared.

About United Airlines

United Airlines Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides air transportation services in North America, Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Latin America. The company transports people and cargo through its mainline and regional fleets. It also offers catering, ground handling, flight academy, and maintenance services for third parties. The company was formerly known as United Continental Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to United Airlines Holdings, Inc. in June 2019. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.