Contrasting Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) & Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA)

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) and Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation and earnings.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Liberty Global and Chunghwa Telecom”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Global	$4.77 billion	0.79	$1.59 billion	($6.09)	-1.85
Chunghwa Telecom	$234.17 billion	0.14	$1.13 billion	$1.58	26.43

Liberty Global has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Chunghwa Telecom. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chunghwa Telecom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

37.2% of Liberty Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Liberty Global shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by 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.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Liberty Global and Chunghwa Telecom, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Global	2	6	2	0	2.00
Chunghwa Telecom	0	1	0	0	2.00

Liberty Global currently has a consensus price target of $14.26, suggesting a potential upside of 26.84%. Given Liberty Global’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Liberty Global is more favorable than Chunghwa Telecom.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Global and Chunghwa Telecom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Global	-60.38%	-22.64%	-10.77%
Chunghwa Telecom	16.27%	9.72%	7.17%

Risk & Volatility

Liberty Global has a beta of 1.12, suggesting that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chunghwa Telecom has a beta of 0.28, suggesting that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Liberty Global beats Chunghwa Telecom on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service. The company provides various tiers of digital video programming and audio services, as well as digital video recorders and multimedia home gateway systems; Horizon 5, a cloud-based, multi-screen entertainment platform that combines linear television, including recording and replay features and video-on-demand services; Horizon Go, an online mobile app; and channels, including general entertainment, sports, movies, series, documentaries, lifestyles, news, adult, children, and ethnic and foreign channels. In addition, it offers postpaid and prepaid mobile services; circuit-switched telephony services; and personal call manager, unified messaging, and a second or third phone line at an incremental cost. Further, the company offers business services comprising voice, advanced data, video, wireless, cloud-based services, and mobile and converged fixed-mobile services to small or home offices, small businesses, and medium and large enterprises, as well as on a wholesale basis to other operators. It operates in Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Slovakia, and internationally. Liberty Global Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in Taiwan and internationally. It operates through Consumer Business, Enterprise Business, International Business, and Others segments. The company offers local, domestic long distance, and international long distance fixed-line telephone services; mobile services such as prepaid and postpaid plans; broadband plans; and internet and data services. Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan.