Sirius XM (NASDAQ:SIRI – Get Free Report) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYK – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and earnings.
Risk & Volatility
Sirius XM has a beta of 0.92, suggesting that its share price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
10.7% of Sirius XM shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.1% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. 3.3% of Sirius XM shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Liberty Global shares are held 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.
Earnings and Valuation
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Sirius XM | $8.70 billion | 0.80 | -$1.67 billion | $2.83 | 7.34 |
| Liberty Global | $4.34 billion | 0.86 | $1.59 billion | ($6.09) | -1.83 |
Liberty Global has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sirius XM. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sirius XM, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Sirius XM and Liberty Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Sirius XM | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2.20 |
| Liberty Global | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Sirius XM presently has a consensus target price of $24.29, suggesting a potential upside of 16.93%. Given Sirius XM’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Sirius XM is more favorable than Liberty Global.
Profitability
This table compares Sirius XM and Liberty Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Sirius XM | 11.61% | 8.79% | 3.62% |
| Liberty Global | -41.44% | -14.71% | -7.29% |
Summary
Sirius XM beats Liberty Global on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Sirius XM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. operates as an audio entertainment company in North America. It operates in two segments, Sirius XM, and Pandora and Off-platform. The company’s Sirius XM segment provides music, sports, entertainment, comedy, talk, news, traffic and weather channels, and other content, as well as podcast and infotainment services on subscription fee basis; and live, curated, and exclusive and on demand programming services through satellite radio systems and streamed through applications for mobile and home devices, and other consumer electronic equipment. This segment also distributes satellite radios through automakers and retailers, as well as its website; podcasts, including true crime, news, politics, music, comedy, sports, and entertainment; and offers location-based services through two-way wireless connectivity, including safety, security, convenience, maintenance and data, remote vehicles diagnostic, and stolen or parked vehicle locator services. In addition, this segment provides music channels on the DISH Network satellite television service as a programming package; Travel Link, a suite of data services that include graphical weather, fuel prices, sports schedule and scores, and movie listings; graphic information related to road closings, traffic flow, and incident data for consumers with in-vehicle navigation systems; real-time weather services in vehicles, boats, and planes; and music programming and commercial-free music services for office, restaurants, and other business. Its Pandora and Off-platform segment operates music, comedy, and podcast streaming platform, which offers personalized experience for listener through computers, tablets, mobile devices, vehicle speakers, and connected devices; and provides advertising services. The company was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in New York.
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.
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