Contrasting Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY)

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings for Liberty Global and Deutsche Telekom, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Global	1	6	2	0	2.11
Deutsche Telekom	0	2	1	1	2.75

Liberty Global presently has a consensus target price of $15.00, suggesting a potential upside of 35.14%. Given Liberty Global’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Liberty Global is more favorable than Deutsche Telekom.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

37.2% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. 13.3% of Liberty Global shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Liberty Global has a beta of 1.05, indicating that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Deutsche Telekom has a beta of 0.44, indicating that its share price is 56% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Liberty Global and Deutsche Telekom”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Global	$4.34 billion	0.86	$1.59 billion	($6.09)	-1.82
Deutsche Telekom	$125.29 billion	1.27	$12.13 billion	$2.70	12.06

Deutsche Telekom has higher revenue and earnings than Liberty Global. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Deutsche Telekom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Global and Deutsche Telekom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Global	-41.44%	-14.71%	-7.29%
Deutsche Telekom	10.15%	10.54%	3.38%

Summary

Deutsche Telekom beats Liberty Global on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service. The company provides various tiers of digital video programming and audio services, as well as digital video recorders and multimedia home gateway systems; Horizon 5, a cloud-based, multi-screen entertainment platform that combines linear television, including recording and replay features and video-on-demand services; Horizon Go, an online mobile app; and channels, including general entertainment, sports, movies, series, documentaries, lifestyles, news, adult, children, and ethnic and foreign channels. In addition, it offers postpaid and prepaid mobile services; circuit-switched telephony services; and personal call manager, unified messaging, and a second or third phone line at an incremental cost. Further, the company offers business services comprising voice, advanced data, video, wireless, cloud-based services, and mobile and converged fixed-mobile services to small or home offices, small businesses, and medium and large enterprises, as well as on a wholesale basis to other operators. It operates in Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Slovakia, and internationally. Liberty Global Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, Group Development, and Group Headquarters and Group Services segments. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. In addition, the company provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. Further, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and network services. Additionally, the company provides wireless communications services; and cloud services, digital solutions, security, and advisory solutions. Deutsche Telekom AG has mobile customers and broadband customers, as well as fixed-network lines. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.