Contrasting Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and BCE (NYSE:BCE)

BCE (NYSE:BCE) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, valuation, risk and earnings.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BCE	25.62%	17.35%	3.66%
Liberty Global	-41.44%	-14.71%	-7.29%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares BCE and Liberty Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BCE	$17.82 billion	1.24	$251.05 million	$4.81	4.94
Liberty Global	$4.77 billion	0.75	$1.59 billion	($6.09)	-1.74

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

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for BCE and Liberty Global, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BCE	4	1	6	2	2.46
Liberty Global	1	6	2	0	2.11

BCE presently has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 22.13%. Liberty Global has a consensus price target of $15.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.64%. Given Liberty Global’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Liberty Global is more favorable than BCE.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.5% of BCE shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of BCE shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Liberty Global shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

BCE has a beta of 0.6, meaning that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its share price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

BCE beats Liberty Global on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BCE

BCE Inc., a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers. This segment also buys and sells local telephone, long distance, and data and other services from or to resellers and other carriers; and operates consumer electronics retail stores. The Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services, and out-of-home advertising services. BCE Inc. was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

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.