Critical Contrast: Copa (CPA) & Its Competitors

Copa (NYSE:CPA) is one of 37 publicly-traded companies in the “TRANS – AIRLINE” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Copa to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Copa and its competitors revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Copa	$3.62 billion	$671.65 million	6.98
Copa Competitors	$14.09 billion	$666.85 million	5.73

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

70.1% of Copa shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 52.5% of shares of all “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies are owned by institutional investors. 9.1% of shares of all “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Copa has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its share price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Copa’s competitors have a beta of 11.11, suggesting that their average share price is 1,011% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Copa	18.57%	25.62%	10.92%
Copa Competitors	5.04%	18.02%	4.18%

Dividends

Copa pays an annual dividend of $6.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Copa pays out 42.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.4% and pay out 21.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Copa has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Copa and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Copa	0	2	9	1	2.92
Copa Competitors	655	2291	3412	240	2.49

Copa presently has a consensus target price of $166.30, suggesting a potential upside of 46.43%. As a group, “TRANS – AIRLINE” companies have a potential upside of 31.20%. Given Copa’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Copa is more favorable than its competitors.

Summary

Copa beats its competitors on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About Copa

Copa Holdings, S.A., through its subsidiaries, provides airline passenger and cargo services. The company offers approximately 375 daily scheduled flights to 82 destinations in 32 countries in North, Central, and South America, as well as the Caribbean from its Panama City hub. As of December 31, 2023, it operated a fleet of 106 aircraft comprising 76 Boeing 737-Next Generation aircraft, 29 Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, and one Boeing 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter. The company was founded in 1947 and is based in Panama City, Panama.