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UAL vs. CPA: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?

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Investors interested in Transportation - Airline stocks are likely familiar with United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) and Copa Holdings (CPA - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks offers value investors a better bang for their buck right now? We'll need to take a closer look.

There are plenty of strategies for discovering value stocks, but we have found that pairing a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system produces the best returns. The proven Zacks Rank emphasizes companies with positive estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight stocks with specific traits.

Currently, both United Airlines and Copa Holdings are holding a Zacks Rank of # 2 (Buy). This means that both companies have witnessed positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that both of these stocks have an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors also try to analyze a wide range of traditional figures and metrics to help determine whether a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Style Score Value grade factors in a variety of key fundamental metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a number of other key stats that are commonly used by value investors.

UAL currently has a forward P/E ratio of 7.84, while CPA has a forward P/E of 14.01. We also note that UAL has a PEG ratio of 0.36. This popular figure is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also considers a company's expected EPS growth rate. CPA currently has a PEG ratio of 0.79.

Another notable valuation metric for UAL is its P/B ratio of 2.23. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, CPA has a P/B of 2.24.

These metrics, and several others, help UAL earn a Value grade of A, while CPA has been given a Value grade of C.

Both UAL and CPA are impressive stocks with solid earnings outlooks, but based on these valuation figures, we feel that UAL is the superior value option right now.


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