Contrasting Corporacion America Airports (NYSE:CAAP) & Japan Airlines (OTCMKTS:JAPSY)

Japan Airlines (OTCMKTS:JAPSY) and Corporacion America Airports (NYSE:CAAP) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Japan Airlines and Corporacion America Airports, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Japan Airlines	0	1	0	1	3.00
Corporacion America Airports	0	2	4	0	2.67

Corporacion America Airports has a consensus price target of $30.12, suggesting a potential upside of 17.70%. Given Corporacion America Airports’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Corporacion America Airports is more favorable than Japan Airlines.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

13.0% of Corporacion America Airports shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Japan Airlines and Corporacion America Airports”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Japan Airlines	$13.37 billion	0.59	$860.68 million	$1.03	8.90
Corporacion America Airports	$1.96 billion	2.16	$247.72 million	$1.76	14.54

Japan Airlines has higher revenue and earnings than Corporacion America Airports. Japan Airlines is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Corporacion America Airports, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Japan Airlines and Corporacion America Airports’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Japan Airlines	6.84%	10.96%	4.50%
Corporacion America Airports	13.79%	17.40%	6.44%

Volatility and Risk

Japan Airlines has a beta of 0.42, meaning that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corporacion America Airports has a beta of 0.69, meaning that its stock price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Corporacion America Airports beats Japan Airlines on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled and non-scheduled air transport services in Japan, Asia, Oceania, North America, and Europe. The company operates through Air Transportation and Other segments. It offers passenger, ground handling, cargo and mail handling, and maintenance services. The company is also involved in the aerial work and other related business; airport peripheral business; and sale of travel package tours. As of March 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 224 aircraft. The company was formerly known as Japan Airlines International Co., Ltd. and changed its name to Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. in April 2011. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Corporacion America Airports

Corporación América Airports S.A., through its subsidiaries, acquires, develops, and operates airport concessions. It operates 52 airports in Latin America, Europe, and Eurasia. The company was formerly known as A.C.I. Airports International S.à r.l. and changed its name to Corporación América Airports S.A. in September 2017. The company was founded in 1998 and is based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Corporación América Airports S.A. is a subsidiary of A.C.I. Airports S.à r.l.