Critical Review: SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) & MTN Group (OTCMKTS:MTNOY)

SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) and MTN Group (OTCMKTS:MTNOY) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

6.9% of SurgePays shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.1% of SurgePays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SurgePays and MTN Group”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SurgePays	$56.96 million	0.12	-$36.07 million	($1.53)	-0.18
MTN Group	$12.69 billion	1.73	$1.13 billion	N/A	N/A

MTN Group has higher revenue and earnings than SurgePays.

Volatility and Risk

SurgePays has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, MTN Group has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its stock price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for SurgePays and MTN Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SurgePays	1	1	1	0	2.00
MTN Group	1	0	1	0	2.00

SurgePays currently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 1,141.13%. Given SurgePays’ higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe SurgePays is more favorable than MTN Group.

Profitability

This table compares SurgePays and MTN Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SurgePays	-64.91%	N/A	-310.16%
MTN Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

MTN Group beats SurgePays on 6 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities. SurgePays, Inc. is headquartered in Bartlett, Tennessee.

About MTN Group

MTN Group Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile telecommunications services in South Africa, Nigeria, East Africa, West and Central Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa. The company offers data, voice and SMS, digital and fintech, interconnect, and roaming services, as well as sells mobile devices. It also provides network as a service, including subsea cables that offers international connectivity services; terrestrial and metro fiber networks; data centers and cable landing stations; and FTTx, towers, and radio access networks. The company also offers digital financial services, such as access payments, e-commerce, insurance, and lending and remittance services; enterprise services comprising manage networks, unified and cloud communication, security as a service, and Internet of Things; and API products and services for telecommunications, health, government, financial services, entertainment, and other sectors. MTN Group Limited was incorporated in 1994 and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.