LUV vs UAL
Southwest Airlines Co (LUV) and United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (UAL) are both filed with the SEC under Air Transportation, Scheduled. UAL is 1.9× LUV's size by market cap ($36.5B against $19.5B); LUV trades at the higher fiscal-year P/E (50.3× against 11.0×); UAL reports the higher net margin (5.7% against 1.6%); UAL grew sales faster over three years (+9.5% against +5.6%); and over the past year LUV returned +22.5% against UAL's +5.3%.
| LUV | UAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Last close | $39.64 | $110.60 |
| Market cap | $19.5B | $36.5B |
| P/E (FY) | 50.3× | 11.0× |
| P/S | 0.7× | 0.6× |
| EV/EBITDA | 10.8× | 5.9× |
| Operating margin | 1.5% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 1.6% | 5.7% |
| Return on equity | 4.8% | 24.0% |
| Sales growth (3y) | +5.6% | +9.5% |
| EPS growth (3y) | -3.2% | +66.0% |
| Dividend yield | 2.1% | — |
| 1-year return | +22.5% | +5.3% |
Screener snapshot — prices as of 2026-08-28. Each side's last close is the most recent session the snapshot holds for that company, which can be an earlier one, and its 1-year return is measured to that close. Market caps struck on 2026-08-27. Last close, market cap and the 1-year return are price figures; every other row is computed over the company's latest filed fiscal year — FY2025 (ended 2025-12-31) for both. — not published for this company. A ratio goes unpublished for more than one reason: a component the calculation needs is not on file, the filing does not tag the line it is read from, or the calculation is not defined on the filed basis — EV/EBITDA is not printed on non-positive EBITDA, and return on equity is not computed on a zero or negative equity base.
Who holds them, and who has traded them
| LUV | UAL | |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional holders (13F) | 861 | 970 |
| Insider buyers − sellers (180d) | -1 | -3 |
| Congressional trades disclosed (180d) | 1 | 0 |
| Executive-branch officials on file — trades disclosed (180d) | 2 | 4 |
Counts only. The congressional figures count transactions dated in the trailing 180 days and disclosed in STOCK Act periodic transaction reports; amounts are filed as ranges and are never summed. The executive-branch figures count the same window of transactions, and they are scoped to one roster. The officials OGE posts for direct download. Insider buyers − sellers counts distinct people filing open-market Form 4 purchases minus distinct people filing open-market sales over the trailing 180 days, capped at ±5.
LUV vs UAL: common questions
- Is LUV bigger than UAL?
- UAL carries the larger market cap — $36.5B against $19.5B, both struck on 2026-08-27.
- Which trades at a higher P/E, LUV or UAL?
- LUV, at a fiscal-year 50.3× against 11.0× for UAL. Both are price ÷ latest full-year diluted earnings per share, not a trailing-twelve-month P/E.
- How have LUV and UAL performed over the past year?
- LUV returned +22.5% and UAL +5.3%, measured on the trailing calendar year to the last close.
- How many institutions hold LUV and UAL?
- 861 13F filers report a position in LUV and 970 in UAL, on the latest quarter in the panel.
- Are LUV and UAL in the same industry?
- Both are filed with the SEC under Air Transportation, Scheduled, which is the classification this pairing is built on.
LUV overview → · UAL overview → · LUV institutional ownership → · UAL institutional ownership → · Congress and LUV → · Executive branch and LUV → · Executive branch and UAL →
More in Air Transportation, Scheduled: DAL vs LUV · DAL vs UAL
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Source: SPZCO — https://spzco.com/vs/luv-vs-ual