Liberty Latin America (NASDAQ:LILA – Get Free Report) and Uniti Group (NASDAQ:UNIT – Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends and valuation.
Volatility & Risk
Liberty Latin America has a beta of 0.74, indicating that its stock price is 26% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Uniti Group has a beta of 1.39, indicating that its stock price is 39% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Liberty Latin America and Uniti Group”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Liberty Latin America | $4.44 billion | 0.37 | -$611.20 million | ($0.49) | -17.19 |
| Uniti Group | $2.23 billion | 0.91 | $1.30 billion | $2.71 | 3.10 |
Uniti Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Liberty Latin America. Liberty Latin America is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Uniti Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
18.5% of Liberty Latin America shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.5% of Uniti Group shares are held by institutional investors. 6.2% of Liberty Latin America shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Uniti Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings for Liberty Latin America and Uniti Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Liberty Latin America | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.75 |
| Uniti Group | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2.33 |
Liberty Latin America presently has a consensus target price of $10.00, suggesting a potential upside of 18.69%. Uniti Group has a consensus target price of $11.47, suggesting a potential upside of 36.61%. Given Uniti Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Uniti Group is more favorable than Liberty Latin America.
Profitability
This table compares Liberty Latin America and Uniti Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Liberty Latin America | -2.20% | -9.29% | -0.81% |
| Uniti Group | 28.68% | -133.07% | -4.09% |
Summary
Uniti Group beats Liberty Latin America on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Liberty Latin America
Liberty Latin America Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides fixed, mobile, and subsea telecommunications services. The company operates through C&W Caribbean, C&W Panama, Liberty Networks, Liberty Puerto Rico, and Liberty Costa Rico segments. It offers communications and entertainment services, including video, broadband internet, fixed-line, telephony, and mobiles services to residential and business customers; and business products and services that include enterprise-grade connectivity, data center, hosting, and managed solutions, as well as information technology solutions for small and medium enterprises, international companies, and governmental agencies. The company also operates a sub-sea and terrestrial fiber optic cable network that connects approximately 40 markets. It provides its services under the brands of C&W, Liberty Costa Rica, Liberty Communications, BTC, Flow, and Mas Móvil. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
About Uniti Group
Uniti Group, Inc. is a real estate investment trust company, which engages in the acquisition, construction, and leasing of properties. It operates through the following business segments: Uniti Leasing, Uniti Fiber, and Corporate. The Uniti Leasing segment involves mission-critical communications assets on exclusive or shared-tenant basis, and dark fiber network. The Uniti Fiber segment includes the operation of infrastructure solutions, cell site backhauls, and dark fiber. The Corporate segment consists of office and shared service functions. The company was founded in February 2014 and is headquartered in Little Rock, AR.
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