Contrasting America Movil (NYSE:AMX) and Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI)

Cogent Communications (NASDAQ:CCOI) and America Movil (NYSE:AMX) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.4% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.3% of America Movil shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.2% of Cogent Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of America Movil shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Cogent Communications and America Movil’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cogent Communications	-4.73%	-842.48%	-4.86%
America Movil	9.38%	20.33%	4.93%

Dividends

Cogent Communications pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. America Movil pays an annual dividend of $0.59 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Cogent Communications pays out -8.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. America Movil pays out 35.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Cogent Communications has raised its dividend for 14 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Cogent Communications and America Movil, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cogent Communications	1	7	3	0	2.18
America Movil	0	5	4	1	2.60

Cogent Communications presently has a consensus target price of $21.05, indicating a potential upside of 107.80%. America Movil has a consensus target price of $28.44, indicating a potential upside of 20.34%. Given Cogent Communications’ higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Cogent Communications is more favorable than America Movil.

Risk and Volatility

Cogent Communications has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, America Movil has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Cogent Communications and America Movil”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cogent Communications	$975.77 million	0.53	-$182.17 million	($0.96)	-10.55
America Movil	$49.22 billion	1.44	$4.61 billion	$1.66	14.24

America Movil has higher revenue and earnings than Cogent Communications. Cogent Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than America Movil, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

America Movil beats Cogent Communications on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cogent Communications

Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides high-speed Internet access, private network, and data center colocation space services in North America, Europe, Oceania, South America, and Africa. The company offers on-net Internet access and private network services to law firms, financial services firms, and advertising and marketing firms, as well as heath care providers, educational institutions and other professional services businesses, other Internet service providers, telephone companies, cable television companies, web hosting companies, media service providers, mobile phone operators, content delivery network companies, and commercial content and application service providers. It also provides Internet access and private network services to customers that are not located in buildings directly connected to its network; and on-net services to customers located in buildings that are physically connected to its network. In addition, the company offers off-net services to corporate customers using other carriers' circuits to provide the last mile portion of the link from the customers' premises to the network. Further, it operates data centers that allow its customers to collocate their equipment and access the network. It serves primarily to small and medium-sized businesses, communications service providers, and other bandwidth-intensive organizations. Cogent Communications Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia.

About America Movil

América Móvil, S.A.B. de C.V. provides telecommunications services in Latin America and internationally. The company offers wireless and fixed voice services, including airtime, local, domestic, and international long-distance services; and network interconnection services. It provides data services, such as data centers, data administration, and hosting services to residential and corporate clients; value-added services, including Internet access, messaging and other wireless entertainment, and corporate services; data transmission, email services, instant messaging, content streaming, and interactive applications; and wireless security services, mobile payment solutions, machine-to-machine services, mobile banking, virtual private network services, and video calls and personal communications services. In addition, the company offers residential broadband services; IT solutions to small businesses and large corporations; and cable and satellite television subscriptions. Further, it sells equipment, accessories, and computers; and offers telephone directories, wireless security, call center, advertising, media, and software development services. Additionally, the company provides video, audio, and other media content through the Internet directly from the content provider to the end user. It sells its products and services under the Telcel, Telmex Infinitum, and A1 brands through a network of retailers and service centers to retail customers; and through sales force to corporate customers. The company was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Mexico City, Mexico.