Reviewing Bandwidth (NASDAQ:BAND) & Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT)

Bandwidth (NASDAQ:BAND) and Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Volatility and Risk

Bandwidth has a beta of 3.17, suggesting that its share price is 217% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chunghwa Telecom has a beta of 0.26, suggesting that its share price is 74% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Bandwidth and Chunghwa Telecom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Bandwidth	1.01%	3.70%	1.37%
Chunghwa Telecom	16.58%	10.67%	7.82%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

68.5% of Bandwidth shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Bandwidth shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Bandwidth and Chunghwa Telecom, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Bandwidth	0	5	4	0	2.44
Chunghwa Telecom	0	2	0	0	2.00

Bandwidth presently has a consensus target price of $66.67, suggesting a potential upside of 51.19%. Given Bandwidth’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Bandwidth is more favorable than Chunghwa Telecom.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Bandwidth and Chunghwa Telecom”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Bandwidth	$753.82 million	1.89	-$12.91 million	($0.12)	-367.45
Chunghwa Telecom	$7.58 billion	5.13	$1.23 billion	$1.73	28.98

Chunghwa Telecom has higher revenue and earnings than Bandwidth. Bandwidth is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chunghwa Telecom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Chunghwa Telecom beats Bandwidth on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Bandwidth

Bandwidth is a cloud communications company that provides software and network services for businesses, communications providers and software developers. Its platform enables organizations to add voice calling, messaging and emergency calling capabilities to their applications and services. The company offers communications APIs, business voice and messaging solutions, and services for managing phone numbers and emergency communications. Bandwidth’s network infrastructure supports these offerings and helps customers connect communications features with their existing systems.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom is Taiwan’s largest integrated telecommunications provider. The company offers fixed-line and mobile voice services, broadband internet access, and data communications to consumers, businesses, and government customers. Its business also includes information and communications technology services such as cloud computing, cybersecurity, data-center services, and enterprise networking. Chunghwa Telecom serves customers primarily in Taiwan and provides international telecommunications services through its global network and partnerships.