AT&T (NYSE:T) & Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) Head to Head Contrast

AT&T (NYSE:T) and Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE:CHT) are both large-cap communication services companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares AT&T and Chunghwa Telecom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AT&T	10.19%	13.41%	3.92%
Chunghwa Telecom	16.11%	10.00%	7.36%

Dividends

AT&T pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Chunghwa Telecom pays an annual dividend of $1.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. AT&T pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Chunghwa Telecom pays out 75.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. AT&T is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for AT&T and Chunghwa Telecom, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AT&T	1	6	12	0	2.58
Chunghwa Telecom	0	2	0	0	2.00

AT&T currently has a consensus price target of $28.55, suggesting a potential upside of 34.51%. Given AT&T’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe AT&T is more favorable than Chunghwa Telecom.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares AT&T and Chunghwa Telecom”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
AT&T	$125.65 billion	1.14	$21.95 billion	$1.85	11.47
Chunghwa Telecom	$7.58 billion	4.99	$1.23 billion	$1.65	29.59

AT&T has higher revenue and earnings than Chunghwa Telecom. AT&T is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Chunghwa Telecom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

57.1% of AT&T shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 2.1% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of AT&T shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Chunghwa Telecom shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk & Volatility

AT&T has a beta of 0.25, indicating that its share price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Chunghwa Telecom has a beta of 0.27, indicating that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

AT&T beats Chunghwa Telecom on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About AT&T

AT&T, Inc. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of telecommunications and technology services. It operates through the Communications and Latin America segments. The Communications segment offers wireless, wireline telecom, and broadband services to businesses and consumers located in the US and businesses globally. The Latin America segment provides wireless services and equipment in Mexico. The company was founded in 1983 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

About Chunghwa Telecom

Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in Taiwan and internationally. It operates through Consumer Business, Enterprise Business, International Business, and Others segments. The company offers local, domestic long distance, and international long distance fixed-line telephone services; mobile services such as prepaid and postpaid plans; broadband plans; and internet and data services. Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan.