Copa (CPA) vs. Its Peers Head to Head Contrast

Copa (NYSE:CPA) is one of 78 publicly-traded companies in the “Passenger Airlines” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Copa to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings and dividends.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Copa and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Copa	0	1	10	1	3.00
Copa Competitors	1527	4066	6688	356	2.46

Copa currently has a consensus target price of $172.20, suggesting a potential upside of 15.40%. As a group, “Passenger Airlines” companies have a potential upside of 3.52%. Given Copa’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Copa is more favorable than its rivals.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Copa and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Copa	$3.62 billion	$671.65 million	9.81
Copa Competitors	$15.27 billion	$637.69 million	19.97

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

Profitability

This table compares Copa and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Copa	15.71%	22.40%	9.32%
Copa Competitors	-8.87%	4.80%	1.10%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.1% of Copa shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 42.0% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by institutional investors. 10.5% of shares of all “Passenger Airlines” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Copa pays an annual dividend of $6.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Copa pays out 45.0% 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 23.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Copa has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Copa has a beta of 1.14, suggesting that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Copa’s rivals have a beta of 18.44, suggesting that their average stock price is 1,744% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Copa beats its rivals on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

About Copa

Copa Holdings, S.A. is a Panama-based airline holding company whose principal operations are conducted through Copa Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary, Wingo. Copa Airlines provides scheduled passenger service and cargo transportation, while Wingo offers lower-cost air travel, primarily in the Colombian market. From its hub at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, Copa Airlines connects destinations across North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The hub’s location supports connections between cities throughout the region.