Hellenic Telecom Organization (OTCMKTS:HLTOY) versus BCE (NYSE:BCE) Critical Contrast

Hellenic Telecom Organization (OTCMKTS:HLTOY) and BCE (NYSE:BCE) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Hellenic Telecom Organization and BCE’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hellenic Telecom Organization	12.39%	26.09%	10.03%
BCE	1.96%	18.89%	3.74%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Hellenic Telecom Organization and BCE, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Hellenic Telecom Organization	0	0	0	0	0.00
BCE	4	8	2	1	2.00

BCE has a consensus price target of $38.67, suggesting a potential upside of 56.58%. Given BCE’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe BCE is more favorable than Hellenic Telecom Organization.

Risk and Volatility

Hellenic Telecom Organization has a beta of 0.37, meaning that its share price is 63% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BCE has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Hellenic Telecom Organization and BCE”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Hellenic Telecom Organization	$2.10 billion	3.65	$518.11 million	N/A	N/A
BCE	$17.82 billion	1.29	$251.05 million	$0.29	85.16

Hellenic Telecom Organization has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BCE.

Dividends

Hellenic Telecom Organization pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. BCE pays an annual dividend of $1.27 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. BCE pays out 437.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

41.5% of BCE shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of BCE shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

BCE beats Hellenic Telecom Organization on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hellenic Telecom Organization

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. provides telecommunications and related services to businesses and individuals primarily in Greece and Romania. It operates through OTE, COSMOTE Group, and Telekom Romania Mobile segments. The company offers fixed-line, Internet access, ICT, and TV production services; and international carrier services. It also provides mobile and satellite telecommunication, electronic money, e-commerce, financing, consultancy and security, real estate, insurance brokerage, training, wholesale telephony, retail, marketing, overdue accounts management, wholesale broadband, and infrastructure services. Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. was incorporated in 1949 and is based in Athens, Greece. Hellenic Telecommunications Organization S.A. operates as a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG.

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.