Comparing Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) & Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI)

Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) and Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) are both large-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and dividends.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Chunghwa Telecom and Rogers Communication, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chunghwa Telecom	0	2	0	0	2.00
Rogers Communication	1	4	5	0	2.40

Rogers Communication has a consensus price target of $36.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.88%. Given Rogers Communication’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Rogers Communication is more favorable than Chunghwa Telecom.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

2.1% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.5% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.0% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chunghwa Telecom	16.37%	9.87%	7.29%
Rogers Communication	32.29%	14.22%	3.30%

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chunghwa Telecom	$7.58 billion	4.27	$1.24 billion	$1.61	25.93
Rogers Communication	$15.54 billion	1.29	$4.93 billion	$9.25	4.01

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

Dividends

Chunghwa Telecom pays an annual dividend of $1.30 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Rogers Communication pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Chunghwa Telecom pays out 80.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rogers Communication pays out 15.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Rogers Communication is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Risk and Volatility

Chunghwa Telecom has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rogers Communication has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rogers Communication beats Chunghwa Telecom on 13 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in Taiwan and internationally. It operates through Consumer Business, Enterprise Business, International Business, and Others segments. The company offers local, domestic long distance, and international long distance fixed-line telephone services; mobile services such as prepaid and postpaid plans; broadband plans; and internet and data services. Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan.

About Rogers Communication

Rogers Communications Inc. operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device financing, device protection, global voice and data roaming, wireless home phone, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device shipping and express pickup services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands. It also provides internet and WiFi services; and monitoring, security, automation, energy efficiency, and smart control through smartphone app. In addition, the company offers local and network TV; on-demand television; cloud-based digital video recorders; voice-activated remote controls, and integrated apps; personal video recorders; linear and time-shifted programming; digital specialty channels; and 4K television programming. Further, it provides residential and small business local telephony services; voicemail, call waiting, and long distance; voice, data networking, Internet protocol (IP), and Ethernet services; private networking, Internet, IP voice, and cloud solutions; optical wave and multi-protocol label switching services; information technology and network technologies; cable access network services; telecommunications technical consulting services; and season games through television, smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and other streaming devices, as well as operates Ignite TV and Ignite TV app. Additionally, the company owns Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre event venue; and operates Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet World, Citytv, OMNI, FX (Canada), FXX (Canada), and OLN television networks, as well as 52 AM and FM radio stations. It also offers Rogers and the Rogers World Elite Mastercard. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.