Analyzing Viper Networks (OTCMKTS:VPER) and Telefonica (NYSE:TEF)

Telefonica (NYSE:TEF) and Viper Networks (OTCMKTS:VPER) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, institutional ownership, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Telefonica and Viper Networks, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telefonica	5	4	0	0	1.44
Viper Networks	0	0	0	0	0.00

Telefonica presently has a consensus target price of $4.02, indicating a potential upside of 5.38%. Given Telefonica’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Telefonica is more favorable than Viper Networks.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Telefonica and Viper Networks”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telefonica	$40.55 billion	0.53	-$53.02 million	($0.41)	-9.29
Viper Networks	$5.55 million	0.37	-$130,000.00	N/A	N/A

Viper Networks has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Telefonica.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

1.1% of Telefonica shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Telefonica 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.

Profitability

This table compares Telefonica and Viper Networks’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telefonica	-5.23%	8.54%	1.96%
Viper Networks	-2.25%	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Telefonica has a beta of 0.29, meaning that its share price is 71% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Viper Networks has a beta of -0.47, meaning that its share price is 147% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Telefonica beats Viper Networks on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telefonica

Telefónica, S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Europe and Latin America. The company offers mobile and related services and products, such as mobile voice, value added, mobile data and internet, wholesale, corporate, roaming, fixed wireless, and trunking and paging services. It also provides fixed telecommunication services, including PSTN lines; ISDN accesses; public telephone services; local, domestic, and international long-distance and fixed-to-mobile communications; corporate communications; supplementary value-added services; video telephony; intelligent network; and telephony information services, as well as leases and sells handset equipment and telephony information services. It also provides Internet and broadband multimedia services comprising internet service provider, portal and network, retail and wholesale broadband access, narrowband switched access, security, internet through fibre to the home, and voice over internet protocol services. In addition, the company offers leased line, virtual private network, fibre optics, web hosting and application, managed hosting, content delivery, outsourcing and application, desktop, and system integration and professional services. Further, the company offers wholesale services for telecommunication operators, including domestic interconnection and international wholesale services; leased lines for other operators; and local loop leasing services, as well as bit stream services, wholesale line rental accesses, and leased ducts for other operators' fiber deployment. Additionally, it provides video/TV services; smart connectivity and services, and consumer IoT products; financial and other payment, security, cloud, advertising, big data, and digital experience services; Aura; open gateway, living apps; smart Wi-Fi, Phoenix, NT, Solar 360, and Movistar Home devices. Telefónica, S.A. was incorporated in 1924 and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.

About Viper Networks

Viper Networks, Inc. manufactures and distributes LED lighting products. The company provides CyberGrab; Vnet, a communication application; Viper unified communications platform for carriers and providers; VRoom; parking lot lightings system; and solar power and telecom systems, as well as intelligent lighting solutions with camera, sensor, and wireless technologies. Its products are used in street, roadway, security, parking lot, and billboard lighting. Viper Networks, Inc. was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Troy, Michigan.