Proximus (OTCMKTS:BGAOY) vs. Elisa Oyj (OTCMKTS:ELMUF) Critical Comparison

Proximus (OTCMKTS:BGAOY – Get Rating) and Elisa Oyj (OTCMKTS:ELMUF – Get Rating) are both business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability and risk.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Proximus and Elisa Oyj’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Proximus	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.44	3.94
Elisa Oyj	N/A	N/A	N/A	$1.42	37.09

Proximus is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Elisa Oyj, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Proximus and Elisa Oyj’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Proximus	N/A	N/A	N/A
Elisa Oyj	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Proximus and Elisa Oyj, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Proximus	5	3	2	0	1.70
Elisa Oyj	2	3	4	0	2.22

Proximus presently has a consensus target price of $12.55, suggesting a potential upside of 625.43%. Elisa Oyj has a consensus target price of $46.10, suggesting a potential downside of 12.19%. Given Proximus’ higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Proximus is more favorable than Elisa Oyj.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.0% of Proximus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 19.5% of Elisa Oyj shares are held by institutional investors. 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.

Dividends

Proximus pays an annual dividend of $0.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Elisa Oyj pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Proximus pays out 20.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Elisa Oyj pays out 91.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Proximus is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Elisa Oyj beats Proximus on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Proximus

(Get Rating)

Proximus SA engages in the provision of telecommunication services. It operates its business through the following segments: Consumer Business Unit (CBU); Enterprise Business Unit (EBU); Technology Unit (TEC); Wholesale Unit (WU); International Carrier Services (ICS); and Staff and Support (S&S). The CBU segment sells voice products and services, internet and television, both on fixed mobile networks. The EBU segment markets information and communication technology services and products to professional customers under the Proximus and Telindus brand names. The TEC segment centralizes all network and costs and supplies. The Wholesale Unit segment offers services to other telecom and cable operators. The ICS segment is responsible for the international carrier activities. The S&S segment brings together all the horizontal functions, such as human resources, finance, legal, strategy, and corporate communication; internal services, and real estate that support the Group’s activities. The company was founded on July 19, 1930 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

About Elisa Oyj

(Get Rating)

Elisa Oyj engages in the provision of telecommunications, information and communications technology, and online services. It operates through the Consumer Customers and Corporate Customers segments. The Consumer Customers segment includes telecommunications and communications services, such as fixed and mobile subscriptions with supplementary digital services, cable-television subscriptions, Elisa Viihde entertainment service, and Elisa Kirja e-reading service. The Corporate Customers segment offers corporate and public administration organizations with services such as information technology (IT) and communication solutions for the digital environment as well as fixed and mobile subscriptions. The company was founded by Daniel Johannes Waden in 1882 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.