Financial Review: Telecom Italia (OTCMKTS:TIIAY) & VEON (NASDAQ:VEON)

Telecom Italia (OTCMKTS:TIIAY) and VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, valuation and dividends.

Volatility and Risk

Telecom Italia has a beta of 1, indicating that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, VEON has a beta of 1.44, indicating that its stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

21.3% of VEON shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Telecom Italia and VEON, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telecom Italia	0	1	1	3	3.40
VEON	0	0	1	1	3.50

VEON has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.24%. Given VEON’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe VEON is more favorable than Telecom Italia.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Telecom Italia and VEON”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telecom Italia	$15.88 billion	N/A	-$660.08 million	N/A	N/A
VEON	$4.00 billion	1.03	$415.00 million	$6.34	8.82

VEON has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Telecom Italia.

Profitability

This table compares Telecom Italia and VEON’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telecom Italia	N/A	N/A	N/A
VEON	11.18%	36.24%	5.88%

Summary

VEON beats Telecom Italia on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Italy and internationally. The company operates through Domestic, Brazil, and Other Operations segments. It offers fixed and mobile voice and Internet, and public telephony services, as well as products managed and developed for individuals and families; and voice, data, and Internet services and products, and information and communications technology solutions for top, public sector and large account customers. The company also manages and develops a portfolio of regulated and unregulated wholesale services for fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operators; and development, engineering, construction, and operation of network infrastructures, information technology (IT), and systems and properties. Telecom Italia S.p.A. was incorporated in 1908 and is based in Milan, Italy.

About VEON

VEON Ltd., a digital operator, provides connectivity and internet services in Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It offers mobile telecommunications services, including value added and call completion, national and international roaming, wireless Internet access, mobile financial, and mobile bundle services; data connectivity, cross border transit, voice, Internet, and data services; fixed-line telecommunications using intercity fiber optic networks; and Internet-TV using Fiber to the building technology. The company also sells equipment, infrastructure, and accessories. VEON Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.