Critical Survey: Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) and NTT (OTCMKTS:NTTYY)

NTT (OTCMKTS:NTTYY) and Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI) are both large-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, risk and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares NTT and Rogers Communication’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NTT	6.29%	9.10%	1.97%
Rogers Communication	4.11%	11.51%	2.99%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.1% of NTT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.5% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by institutional investors. 29.0% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for NTT and Rogers Communication, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NTT	0	1	0	1	3.00
Rogers Communication	1	2	6	0	2.56

Rogers Communication has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 4.80%. Given Rogers Communication’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Rogers Communication is more favorable than NTT.

Dividends

NTT pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Rogers Communication pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. NTT pays out 34.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Rogers Communication pays out 120.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares NTT and Rogers Communication”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NTT	$95.72 billion	0.91	$6.84 billion	$1.84	14.45
Rogers Communication	$15.54 billion	1.16	$4.93 billion	$1.20	27.83

NTT has higher revenue and earnings than Rogers Communication. NTT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Rogers Communication, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

NTT has a beta of 0.07, indicating that its share price is 93% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rogers Communication has a beta of 0.66, indicating that its share price is 34% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rogers Communication beats NTT on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NTT

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation operates as a telecommunications company in Japan and internationally. It operates through Integrated ICT Business, Regional Communications Business, Global Solutions Business, and Others segments. The Integrated ICT Business segment offers mobile phone, domestic inter-prefectural communications, international communications, solutions, and system development and related services. The Regional Communications Business segment provides intra-prefectural communications and related ancillary services. The Global Solutions Business segment offers consulting, system and software development, network system, cloud, global data center, and related services. The Others segment engages in the real estate, energy, and other businesses. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About Rogers Communication

Rogers Communications Inc. operates as a communications and media company in Canada. It operates through three segments: Wireless, Cable, and Media. The company offers mobile Internet access, wireless voice and enhanced voice, device financing, device protection, global voice and data roaming, wireless home phone, bridging landline, machine-to-machine and Internet of Things solutions, and advanced wireless solutions for businesses, as well as device shipping and express pickup services; and postpaid and prepaid services under the Rogers, Fido, and chatr brands. It also provides internet and WiFi services; and monitoring, security, automation, energy efficiency, and smart control through smartphone app. In addition, the company offers local and network TV; on-demand television; cloud-based digital video recorders; voice-activated remote controls, and integrated apps; personal video recorders; linear and time-shifted programming; digital specialty channels; and 4K television programming. Further, it provides residential and small business local telephony services; voicemail, call waiting, and long distance; voice, data networking, Internet protocol (IP), and Ethernet services; private networking, Internet, IP voice, and cloud solutions; optical wave and multi-protocol label switching services; information technology and network technologies; cable access network services; telecommunications technical consulting services; and season games through television, smartphones, tablets, personal computers, and other streaming devices, as well as operates Ignite TV and Ignite TV app. Additionally, the company owns Toronto Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre event venue; and operates Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet World, Citytv, OMNI, FX (Canada), FXX (Canada), and OLN television networks, as well as 52 AM and FM radio stations. It also offers Rogers and the Rogers World Elite Mastercard. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.