Tag: ALK

Top Airline Stocks for Summer Travel

by Nkem Iregbulem

This summer is the 10th consecutive summer to see an increase in the number of passengers flying. Airline for America (A4A) expects the number of passengers to rise 3.4% from 248.8 million travelers last summer to 257.4 million travelers this summer. Low airfares, higher household net worth, and a strong U.S. economy could all be driving this record high air travel. In response to this growing demand, airlines have added more seats to existing planes and increased the capacity of new ones.

Airline stocks may benefit from this busy travel season. These include Alaska Air (ALK), American (AAL), Delta (DAL), SkyWest (SKYW), Spirit (SAVE), Southwest (LUV), and United Continental (UAL). The ALK, DAL, LUV, and SAVE stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and the SKYW, UAL, and AAL stocks are traded on the NASDAQ exchange.

Alaska Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the U.S. when measured by fleet size, passengers carried, and destinations served. With its fleet size of 334, Alaska Airlines flies to over 100 domestic and international destinations. The airline is headquartered in Washington and was founded in 1932. Alaska Air has a market cap of $8.01 billion and pays a dividend yield of 2.16%. The stock trades at 14.34 times trailing earnings and at 11.10 times forward earnings. It has an excellent price-to-sales ratio of 0.95 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.02. The company boasts a 3-year revenue growth rate of 13.86% and a 5-year revenue growth rate of 9.89%.

American Airlines is the world’s largest airline when measured by number of passengers carried, fleet size, revenue, and destinations served. Founded in 1926 and based in Texas, the airline serves 350 destinations in over 50 countries. It has a market cap of $14.09 billion and pays a dividend yield of 1.26%. The stock trades at 8.26 times trailing earnings and at 6.03 times forward earnings. It has an excellent price-to-sales ratio of 0.33 and a price-to-book ratio of 1.25. The company enjoys a 3-year revenue growth rate of 2.81% and an even better 5-year revenue growth rate of 10.74%.

Delta Airlines is ranked the world’s second largest airline when measured by the number of passengers carried and fleet size. Headquartered in Georgia and founded in 1924, it serves 325 destinations across 52 countries. Delta has a market cap of $40.46 billion and pays a dividend yield of 2.59%. The stock trades at 9.86 times trailing earnings and at 8.85 times forward earnings. It has an excellent price-to-sales ratio of 0.92 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.90. With its revenue increasing each fiscal year since 2016, Delta enjoys a 3-year revenue growth rate of 2.97% and a slightly better 5-year revenue growth rate of 3.30%.

SkyWest is the largest regional airline in North America when measured by fleet size, number of passengers, and destinations served. Based in Utah and founded in 1972, it flies to over 250 destinations across in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas. SkyWest has a market cap of $3.11 billion and pays a dividend yield of 0.79%. The stock trades at 9.99 times trailing earnings and at 10.12 times forward earnings. It has a normal price-to-sales ratio of 1.02 and a price-to-book ratio of 1.56. SkyWest’s revenue has increased each fiscal year since 2015, giving it a 3-year revenue growth rate of 1.34% but a 5-year revenue growth rate of -0.47%.

Spirit Airlines is an ultra-low-cost carrier and the seventh largest airline in the United States. Based in Florida and founded in 1983, it serves 76 destinations across Central America, South America, and the United States. Spirit Airlines has a market cap of $2.88 billion and does not pay a dividend yield. Spirit has a fleet size of 75 and flies to 76 domestic and international destinations. The stock trades at 10.27 times trailing earnings and at 7.15 times forward earnings. It has an excellent price-to-sales ratio of 0.79 and a price-to-book ratio of 1.37. Spirit Airlines boasts a 3-year revenue growth rate of 15.77% and a 5-year revenue growth rate of 14.97%.

Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest low-cost carrier. The airline carries more domestic passengers than any other United States airline. Based in Texas and founded in 1971, it serves just over 100 destinations within the United States and 10 other countries. Southwest has a market cap of $29.82 billion and pays a dividend yield of 1.31%. The stock trades at 13.06 times trailing earnings and at 11.95 times forward earnings. It has a normal price-to-sales ratio of 1.40 and a price-to-book ratio of 3.05. Southwest enjoys a 3-year revenue growth rate of 3.48% and a slightly better 5-year revenue growth rate of 4.41%.

United Airlines is another large airline. Founded in 1926 and headquartered in Illinois, it serves over 200 domestic destinations and over 300 destinations in total across five continents. United Continental has a market cap of $24.13 billion and does not pay a dividend yield. The stock trades at 8.63 times trailing earnings and at 8.07 times forward earnings. It has an excellent price-to-sales ratio of 0.59 and a price-to-book ratio of 2.34. With its revenue increasing each fiscal year since 2016, United has a 3-year revenue growth rate of 2.94% and a 5-year revenue growth rate of 1.53%.

Maybe some of these airline stocks will be flying high.

Stocks Going Ex Dividend in February 2018

Here is our latest update on the stock trading technique called ‘Buying Dividends,’ also commonly referred to as ‘Dividend Capture.’ This is the process of buying stocks before the ex dividend date and selling the stock shortly after the ex date at about the same price, yet still being entitled to the dividend.

This technique generally works only in bull markets, and can work in flat or choppy markets, but you need to avoid the technique during bear markets. In order to be entitled to the dividend, you have to buy the stock before the ex-dividend date, and you can’t sell the stock until after the ex date.

The actual dividend may not be paid for another few weeks. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has compiled a downloadable and sortable list of the stocks going ex dividend in the near future. The list contains many dividend paying companies, lots with market caps over $500 million, and yields over 2%. Here are a few examples showing the stock symbol, the ex-dividend date, the quarterly dividend amount, and annual yield.

Pfizer, Inc. (PFE) 2/1/2018 0.34
Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG) 2/1/2018 0.31
Wells Fargo & Company (WFC) 2/1/2018 0.39
Citigroup Inc. (C) 2/2/2018 0.32
PetMed Express, Inc. (PETS) 2/2/2018 0.25
Intel Corporation (INTC) 2/6/2018 0.3
Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) 2/7/2018 0.3
Boeing Company (The) (BA) 2/8/2018 1.71
The Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) 2/8/2018 0.1
Consolidated Edison Inc (ED) 2/13/2018 0.715
Amgen Inc. (AMGN) 2/14/2018 1.32
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) 2/14/2018 0.563
Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) 2/14/2018 0.42
Alaska Air Group, Inc. (ALK) 2/16/2018 0.32
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) (GS) 2/28/2018 0.75

The additional ex-dividend stocks can be found here at wstnn.com. (If you have been to the website before, and the latest link doesn’t show up, you may have to empty your cache.) If you like dividend stocks, you should check out some of the other high yield stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com or WStNN.com. Most of the lists are free.

Dividend definitions: Declaration date: the day that the company declares that there is going to be an upcoming dividend.

Ex-dividend date: the day on which if you buy the stock, you would not be entitled to that particular dividend; or the first day on which a shareholder can sell the shares and still be entitled to the dividend.

Monthly Dividend Stock List

Record date: the day when you must be on the company’s books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks at two business days before the record date.

Payment date: the day on which the dividend payment is actually made, which can be as long at two months after the ex date.

Don’t forget to reconfirm the ex-dividend date with the company before implementing this technique.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.