Critical Contrast: BCE (NYSE:BCE) vs. VEON (NASDAQ:VEON)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for VEON and BCE, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VEON	0	0	1	1	3.50
BCE	4	7	2	1	2.00

VEON presently has a consensus target price of $60.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.27%. BCE has a consensus target price of $38.6667, suggesting a potential upside of 51.04%. Given BCE’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe BCE is more favorable than VEON.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VEON	23.75%	75.40%	12.43%
BCE	1.96%	18.89%	3.74%

Risk and Volatility

VEON has a beta of 1.5, meaning that its share price is 50% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BCE has a beta of 0.62, meaning that its share price is 38% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares VEON and BCE”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VEON	$4.00 billion	1.07	$415.00 million	$13.64	4.26
BCE	$17.82 billion	1.34	$251.05 million	$0.29	88.28

VEON has higher earnings, but lower revenue than BCE. VEON is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BCE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

21.3% of VEON shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of BCE shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of BCE shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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.

About BCE

BCE Inc., a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers. This segment also buys and sells local telephone, long distance, and data and other services from or to resellers and other carriers; and operates consumer electronics retail stores. The Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services, and out-of-home advertising services. BCE Inc. was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.