Head-To-Head Review: Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) & Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY)

Deutsche Telekom (OTCMKTS:DTEGY) and Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.0% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Deutsche Telekom has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Shenandoah Telecommunications has a beta of 0.66, suggesting that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Deutsche Telekom and Shenandoah Telecommunications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Deutsche Telekom	7.38%	10.94%	3.49%
Shenandoah Telecommunications	-11.35%	-4.64%	-2.18%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Deutsche Telekom and Shenandoah Telecommunications, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Deutsche Telekom	0	1	2	0	2.67
Shenandoah Telecommunications	1	0	2	0	2.33

Shenandoah Telecommunications has a consensus price target of $27.50, indicating a potential upside of 70.70%. Given Shenandoah Telecommunications’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Shenandoah Telecommunications is more favorable than Deutsche Telekom.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Deutsche Telekom and Shenandoah Telecommunications”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Deutsche Telekom	$134.70 billion	1.24	$10.87 billion	$2.09	16.32
Shenandoah Telecommunications	$357.85 million	2.49	-$39.39 million	($0.80)	-20.14

Deutsche Telekom has higher revenue and earnings than Shenandoah Telecommunications. Shenandoah Telecommunications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Deutsche Telekom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Deutsche Telekom beats Shenandoah Telecommunications on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Deutsche Telekom

Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, Group Development, and Group Headquarters and Group Services segments. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. In addition, the company provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. Further, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and network services. Additionally, the company provides wireless communications services; and cloud services, digital solutions, security, and advisory solutions. Deutsche Telekom AG has mobile customers and broadband customers, as well as fixed-network lines. The company was incorporated in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany.

About Shenandoah Telecommunications

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name. This segment also leases dark fiber and provides Ethernet and wavelength fiber optic services to enterprise and wholesale customers under the Glo Fiber Enterprise and Glo Fiber Wholesale brand names; and provides voice data and DSL telephone services. The Tower segment owns macro cellular towers and leases colocation space to the wireless communications providers. Shenandoah Telecommunications Company was founded in 1902 and is based in Edinburg, Virginia.