Critical Analysis: easyJet (ESYJY) vs. Its Peers

easyJet (OTCMKTS:ESYJY) is one of 81 publicly-traded companies in the “Passenger Airlines” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare easyJet to similar businesses based on the strength of its valuation, dividends, risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Dividends

easyJet pays an annual dividend of $1.74 per share and has a dividend yield of 19.1%. easyJet pays out 38.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.5% and pay out 23.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares easyJet and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
easyJet	N/A	N/A	N/A
easyJet Competitors	-16.53%	8.05%	0.46%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of easyJet shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.6% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by institutional investors. 10.5% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for easyJet and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
easyJet	2	6	1	0	1.89
easyJet Competitors	1477	4002	6574	347	2.47

As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies have a potential upside of 47.37%. Given easyJet’s peers stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe easyJet has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares easyJet and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
easyJet	N/A	N/A	2.01
easyJet Competitors	$14.19 billion	$623.26 million	16.72

easyJet’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than easyJet. easyJet is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

easyJet peers beat easyJet on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

easyJet Company Profile

easyJet plc operates as a low-cost airline carrier in Europe. The company engages in the provision of holiday packages; aircraft trading and leasing activities; development of building projects; financing and insurance business; and tour operator activities. easyJet plc was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Luton, the United Kingdom.