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Best Airline Stocks to Buy Now (2023)

Top airline stocks in 2023 ranked by overall Zen Score. See the best airline stocks to buy now, according to analyst forecasts for the airlines industry.

According to Zen Score, the 3 best airline stocks to buy right now are:

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) is the top airline stock with a Zen Score of 58, which is 22 points higher than the airline industry average of 36. It passed 21 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Southwest Airlines Co has seen its stock lose -12.91% over the past year, underperforming other airline stocks by -26 percentage points.

Southwest Airlines Co has an average 1 year price target of $35.61, an upside of 30.96% from Southwest Airlines Co's current stock price of $27.19.

Southwest Airlines Co stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 16 analysts covering Southwest Airlines Co, 6.25% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 25% have issued a Buy, 56.25% have issued a hold, while 6.25% have issued a Sell rating, and 6.25% have issued a Strong Sell.

Frontier Group Holdings (NASDAQ:ULCC) is the second best airline stock with a Zen Score of 55, which is 19 points higher than the airline industry average of 36. It passed 18 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Frontier Group Holdings has seen its stock lose -54.02% over the past year, underperforming other airline stocks by -68 percentage points.

Frontier Group Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $9.28, an upside of 103.02% from Frontier Group Holdings's current stock price of $4.57.

Frontier Group Holdings stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 9 analysts covering Frontier Group Holdings, 33.33% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 11.11% have issued a Buy, 55.56% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Sun Country Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:SNCY) is the third best airline stock with a Zen Score of 52, which is 16 points higher than the airline industry average of 36. It passed 17 out of 33 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Sun Country Airlines Holdings has seen its stock return 2.27% over the past year, underperforming other airline stocks by -11 percentage points.

Sun Country Airlines Holdings has an average 1 year price target of $23.00, an upside of 59.39% from Sun Country Airlines Holdings's current stock price of $14.43.

Sun Country Airlines Holdings stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 5 analysts covering Sun Country Airlines Holdings, 40% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 20% have issued a Buy, 40% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 5 airline stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 airline stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Spirit Airlines (NYSE:SAVE) has an annual dividend yield of 5.48%, which is 3 percentage points higher than the airline industry average of 2.41%.

Spirit Airlines's dividend payout ratio of -18.5% indicates that its high dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Copa Holdings Sa (NYSE:CPA) has an annual dividend yield of 2.85%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 2.41%. Copa Holdings Sa's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% three times in the last 10 years. Copa Holdings Sa's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Copa Holdings Sa's dividend payout ratio of 0% indicates that its dividend yield might not be sustainable for the long-term.

Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV) has an annual dividend yield of 2.65%, which is the same as the airline industry average of 2.41%. Southwest Airlines Co's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Southwest Airlines Co's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Southwest Airlines Co's dividend payout ratio of 55.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Airline stocks were down -1.72% in the last day, and down -1.91% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why airline stocks are down.

Based on WallStreetZen's Valuation Score, the 3 most undervalued airline stocks right now are:

United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ:UAL) is the most undervalued airline stock based on WallStreetZen's Valuation Score. United Airlines Holdings has a valuation score of 100, which is 51 points higher than the airline industry average of 49. It passed 7 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

United Airlines Holdings's stock has gained 26.85% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the airline industry by 13 percentage points.

Allegiant Travel Co (NASDAQ:ALGT) is the second most undervalued airline stock based on WallStreetZen's Valuation Score. Allegiant Travel Co has a valuation score of 86, which is 37 points higher than the airline industry average of 49. It passed 6 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Allegiant Travel Co's stock has gained 1.29% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -12 percentage points.

Jetblue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) is the third most undervalued airline stock based on WallStreetZen's Valuation Score. Jetblue Airways has a valuation score of 71, which is 22 points higher than the airline industry average of 49. It passed 5 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Jetblue Airways's stock has dropped -30.12% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the airline industry by -44 percentage points.