Reviewing SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) and Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY)

SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) and Air China (OTCMKTS:AIRYY) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Volatility & Risk

SkyWest has a beta of 1.58, indicating that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Air China has a beta of -0.14, indicating that its share price is 114% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

81.3% of SkyWest shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of SkyWest shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares SkyWest and Air China”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SkyWest	$4.06 billion	0.90	$428.33 million	$10.35	8.77
Air China	$23.19 billion	0.59	-$32.35 million	$0.02	781.50

SkyWest has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Air China. SkyWest is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Air China, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares SkyWest and Air China’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SkyWest	10.56%	16.35%	5.93%
Air China	0.19%	0.79%	0.09%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for SkyWest and Air China, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SkyWest	0	2	4	1	2.86
Air China	0	0	0	0	0.00

SkyWest currently has a consensus price target of $123.83, indicating a potential upside of 36.35%. Given SkyWest’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe SkyWest is more favorable than Air China.

Summary

SkyWest beats Air China on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SkyWest

SkyWest, Inc. is the holding company for two scheduled passenger airline operations and an aircraft leasing company. SkyWest’s airline companies provide commercial air service in cities throughout North America with nearly 3,000 daily flights carrying more than 53 million passengers annually. SkyWest Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. ExpressJet Airlines operates through partnerships with United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. Based in St. George, Utah, SkyWest employs nearly 17,000 employees.

About Air China

Air China Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides air passenger, air cargo, and airline-related services in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, China, and internationally. The company operates in Airline Operations and Other Operations segments. It provides aircraft engineering and airport ground handling services. The company is also involved in the import and export trading activities; and provision of cabin, airline catering, air ticketing, human resources, aircraft overhaul and maintenance, and financial services. Air China Limited was founded in 1988 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.