Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT – Get Free Report) and Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILA – Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and risk.
Profitability
This table compares Uniti Group and Liberty Latin America’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Uniti Group | 28.68% | -133.07% | -4.09% |
| Liberty Latin America | -2.20% | -9.29% | -0.81% |
Volatility and Risk
Uniti Group has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its share price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Latin America has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its share price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Uniti Group | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2.33 |
| Liberty Latin America | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.75 |
Uniti Group presently has a consensus target price of $10.92, indicating a potential upside of 7.82%. Liberty Latin America has a consensus target price of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.17%. Given Liberty Latin America’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Liberty Latin America is more favorable than Uniti Group.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
87.5% of Uniti Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.5% of Liberty Latin America shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Uniti Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.2% of Liberty Latin America shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Uniti Group and Liberty Latin America”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Uniti Group | $3.54 billion | 0.69 | $1.30 billion | $2.71 | 3.74 |
| Liberty Latin America | $4.44 billion | 0.39 | -$611.20 million | ($0.49) | -18.03 |
Uniti Group has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Liberty Latin America. Liberty Latin America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Uniti Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Uniti Group beats Liberty Latin America on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Uniti Group
Uniti Group, Inc. is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the acquisition, construction, and leasing of properties. It operates through the following business segments: Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber, and Corporate. The Uniti Leasing segment involves mission-critical communications assets on exclusive or shared-tenant basis, and dark fiber network. The Uniti Fiber segment includes the operation of infrastructure solutions, cell site backhauls, and dark fiber. The Corporate segment consists of office and shared service functions. The company was founded in February 2014 and is headquartered in Little Rock, AR.
About Liberty Latin America
Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies. The company also operates a sub-sea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network that connects approximately 40 markets. It provides its services under the brands of C&W, Liberty Costa Rica, Liberty Communications, BTC, Flow, and Mas Móvil. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
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