Comparing Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW) & Ciena (NYSE:CIEN)

Aviat Networks (NASDAQ:AVNW) and Ciena (NYSE:CIEN) are both technology companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Aviat Networks and Ciena’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Aviat Networks	2.08%	6.89%	2.89%
Ciena	7.87%	18.15%	8.63%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

78.6% of Aviat Networks shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.0% of Ciena shares are owned by institutional investors. 5.3% of Aviat Networks shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Ciena shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

Aviat Networks has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its share price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ciena has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Aviat Networks and Ciena”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Aviat Networks	$434.61 million	0.63	$1.34 million	$0.69	30.80
Ciena	$4.77 billion	12.13	$123.34 million	$3.00	136.26

Ciena has higher revenue and earnings than Aviat Networks. Aviat Networks is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ciena, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Aviat Networks and Ciena, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Aviat Networks	1	1	8	0	2.70
Ciena	0	7	13	0	2.65

Aviat Networks presently has a consensus target price of $33.14, suggesting a potential upside of 55.97%. Ciena has a consensus target price of $530.56, suggesting a potential upside of 29.79%. Given Aviat Networks’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Aviat Networks is more favorable than Ciena.

Summary

Ciena beats Aviat Networks on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aviat Networks

Aviat Networks, Inc. provides microwave networking and wireless access networking solutions in North America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers outdoor, indoor, and split-mount radios; microwave routers, switches, and trunking; and private LTE, virtual fiber, and element management products; and hosted software products, such as aviat design, frequency assurance software, and health assurance software. It also provides project services, which includes design and engineering, site and path surveys, assembly and integrations, project management, and install and commission; and managed services, such as network and interface monitoring, network health, onsite maintenance, and remote upgrades. In addition, the company offers support services, including extended warranty, warranty plus, provision support, and license key management, as well as instructor and virtual instructor led training, e-learning and certification services. It serves communications service providers and private network operators, including federal, state and local government agencies, transportation agencies, energy and utility companies, public safety agencies, and broadcast network operators. The company markets its products through a direct sales, service, and support organization; indirect sales channels comprising dealers, resellers, and sales representatives; and through online. Aviat Networks, Inc. company was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About Ciena

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services. Its products include 6500 Packet-Optical Platform, Waveserver stackable interconnect system, and the 6500 Reconfigurable line system, and the 5400 family of Packet-Optical platforms, as well as 8100 coherent routing platforms; 3000 family of service delivery switches and the 5000 family of service aggregation switches, as well as 8700 Packetwave Platform and 6500 Packet Transport System. This segment also sells operating system software and enhanced software features embedded in each of its products. The company’s Blue Planet Automation Software and Services segment provides multi-domain service orchestration, inventory, route optimization and analysis, multi-cloud orchestration, and unified assurance and analytics services. Its Platform Software and Service segment offers MCP domain controller solution, and OneControl unified management system, as well as planning tools. The company’s Global Services segment provides maintenance support and training, installation and deployment, and consulting and network design services. Ciena Corporation was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland.