News (NASDAQ:NWS – Get Free Report) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYK – Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for News and Liberty Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| News | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Liberty Global | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Risk and Volatility
News has a beta of 0.96, meaning that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares News and Liberty Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| News | 6.35% | 7.09% | 4.27% |
| Liberty Global | -62.12% | -28.83% | -13.28% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares News and Liberty Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| News | $9.03 billion | 2.03 | $573.00 million | $1.03 | 32.85 |
| Liberty Global | $4.88 billion | 0.54 | -$7.14 billion | ($8.98) | -0.87 |
News has higher revenue and earnings than Liberty Global. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than News, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
14.6% of News shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.1% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. 11.1% of News shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Liberty Global shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
News beats Liberty Global on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About News
News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other. The company distributes content and data products, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Newswires, and Dow Jones Energy through various media channels, such as newspapers, newswires, websites, mobile apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, live journalism, video, and podcasts. It also owns and operates Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, weekly, and bi-weekly newspapers comprising The Australian, The Weekend Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Advertiser, Sunday Mail, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times, and New York Post, as well as digital mastheads and other websites. In addition, the company publishes general fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and religious books; provides sports, entertainment, and news services to pay-TV and streaming subscribers, and other commercial licensees through satellite and internet distribution; and broadcasts rights to live sporting events. Further, it offers property and property-related advertising and services on its websites and mobile applications; digital real estate services; and financial services. News Corporation was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, 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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