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3 Airline Stocks to Keep an Eye on This Thanksgiving Holiday

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Americans are certainly expected to travel this Thanksgiving holiday span, thanks to a strong labor market and price pressures cooling from last year’s record highs. Compared to last year, a greater number of Americans are likely to take to the skies for Thanksgiving.

As per the American Automobile Association (AAA), more than 55 million travelers are forecast to travel for Thanksgiving, which is an increase of 2.3% from last year. Most importantly, AAA predicted that 4.7 million travelers will be flying this holiday period, and that’s 290,000 more compared to the same period last year.

This year, the number of those traveling by plane will be the highest since 2005, added AAA. Similarly, Airlines for America (A4A) predicts that almost 30 million travelers are expected to fly over the Thanksgiving traveling period (Nov 17-27), which is in itself a record high.

What’s more, nearly 2.7 million Americans will be flying per day during the Thanksgiving traveling period, a 9% jump from last year. Precisely, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, or Nov 26, is expected to be the busiest day for the airports since a record-setting 3.2 million Americans will be flying on that day.

Now, with the Thanksgiving holiday span poised to be one of the most traveled periods by plane, airline stocks such as Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) , American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) and United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) could get the much-needed boost.

Thus, investors should keep a tab on these stocks at the moment. After all, these airliners have a strong network of domestic routes in the United States and are aggressively hiring people to fulfill the unparalleled travel volume.

Delta Air Lines has now begun to pay dividends to its shareholders following a coronavirus-induced hiatus. It has a dividend yield of 1.1%. In the past 5-year period, DAL has increased its dividend once, and its payout ratio presently sits at 6% of earnings. Check Delta Air Lines’ dividend history here.

The company also has a heartening liquidity position. The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 90.6%. DAL’s projected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 10.7%. The company has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

American Airlines has posted encouraging earnings results in its latest reporting quarter. The company’s consolidated traffic has increased in recent times amid high air travel demand.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 378%. AAL’s projected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 54.6%. The company has a Zacks Rank #3.

United Airlines’ initiatives to constantly add fleets is a major tailwind at present, mostly due to the uptick in air travel demand. Its revenues for the first nine-month period of this year have already increased compared to last year.

The company’s expected earnings growth rate for the current year is 286.9%. UAL’s projected earnings growth rate for the next five-year period is 46.5%. The company has a Zacks Rank #3.


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