VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) vs. SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) Critical Analysis

SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) and VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

6.9% of SurgePays shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 21.3% of VEON shares are held by institutional investors. 29.1% of SurgePays shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk & Volatility

SurgePays has a beta of 0.38, meaning that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, VEON has a beta of 1.64, meaning that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SurgePays	2	0	1	0	1.67
VEON	1	1	3	0	2.40

SurgePays currently has a consensus price target of $3.50, indicating a potential upside of 1,505.50%. VEON has a consensus price target of $72.00, indicating a potential upside of 37.69%. Given SurgePays’ higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe SurgePays is more favorable than VEON.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SurgePays	-64.91%	N/A	-310.16%
VEON	11.65%	44.43%	8.17%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares SurgePays and VEON”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SurgePays	$56.96 million	0.10	-$36.07 million	($1.94)	-0.11
VEON	$4.40 billion	0.88	$532.00 million	$7.46	7.01

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

Summary

VEON beats SurgePays on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities. SurgePays, Inc. is headquartered in Bartlett, Tennessee.

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.