Head to Head Survey: Delta Air Lines (DAL) & The Competition

Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) is one of 78 public companies in the “Passenger Airlines” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Delta Air Lines to similar businesses based on the strength of its risk, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Delta Air Lines and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Delta Air Lines	4.58%	16.83%	4.26%
Delta Air Lines Competitors	-18.02%	5.63%	1.10%

Dividends

Delta Air Lines pays an annual dividend of $0.86 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.1%. Delta Air Lines pays out 17.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.6% and pay out 23.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Delta Air Lines has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Delta Air Lines and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Delta Air Lines	1	1	22	0	2.88
Delta Air Lines Competitors	1524	4060	6676	353	2.46

Delta Air Lines presently has a consensus price target of $99.65, suggesting a potential upside of 24.45%. As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies have a potential upside of 14.95%. Given Delta Air Lines’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Delta Air Lines is more favorable than its competitors.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Delta Air Lines and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Delta Air Lines	$63.36 billion	$5.00 billion	15.98
Delta Air Lines Competitors	$14.65 billion	$637.69 million	18.90

Delta Air Lines has higher revenue and earnings than its competitors. Delta Air Lines 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.

Risk and Volatility

Delta Air Lines has a beta of 1.43, meaning that its stock price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Delta Air Lines’ competitors have a beta of 18.43, meaning that their average stock price is 1,743% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

69.9% of Delta Air Lines shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.3% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Delta Air Lines shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 10.9% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Delta Air Lines beats its competitors on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines, Inc. provides scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo in the United States and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Airline and Refinery. Its domestic network centered on core hubs in Atlanta, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Detroit, and Salt Lake City, as well as coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, and Seattle; and international network centered on hubs and market presence in Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, Mexico City, London-Heathrow, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Sao Paulo, Seoul-Incheon, and Tokyo. The company sells its tickets through various distribution channels, including delta.com and the Fly Delta app; acts as a reservations specialists; and operates online travel and traditional brick and mortar agencies. It also provides aircraft maintenance and engineering support, repair, and overhaul services; and vacation packages to third-party consumers. The company operates through a fleet of approximately 1,273 aircrafts. Delta Air Lines, Inc. was founded in 1924 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.