TELUS (NYSE:TU – Get Free Report) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA – Get Free Report) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.
Volatility and Risk
TELUS has a beta of 0.73, suggesting that its stock price is 27% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 1.13, suggesting that its stock price is 13% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for TELUS and Liberty Global, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| TELUS | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2.14 |
| Liberty Global | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2.13 |
Profitability
This table compares TELUS and Liberty Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| TELUS | 4.67% | 9.10% | 2.59% |
| Liberty Global | -60.38% | -22.64% | -10.77% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
49.4% of TELUS shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of Liberty Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of TELUS shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Liberty Global shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares TELUS and Liberty Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| TELUS | $14.88 billion | 1.69 | $724.69 million | $0.46 | 35.95 |
| Liberty Global | $4.63 billion | 0.83 | $1.59 billion | ($9.77) | -1.16 |
Liberty Global has lower revenue, but higher earnings than TELUS. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than TELUS, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
TELUS beats Liberty Global on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About TELUS
TELUS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of telecommunications and information technology products and services in Canada. It operates through Technology Solutions and Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segments. The Technology Solutions segment offers a range of telecommunications products and services; network services; healthcare services; mobile technologies equipment; data services, such as internet protocol; television; hosting, managed information technology, and cloud-based services; software, data management, and data analytics-driven smart food-chain and consumer goods technologies; home and business security; healthcare software and technology solutions; and voice and other telecommunications services, as well as mobile and fixed voice and data telecommunications services and products. The Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segment provides digital customer experience and digital-enablement transformation solutions, including artificial intelligence and content management solutions. The company was formerly known as TELUS Communications Inc. and changed its name to TELUS Corporation in February 2005. TELUS Corporation was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Vancouver, 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.
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