Head-To-Head Analysis: TELUS (NYSE:TU) vs. Rogers Communication (NYSE:RCI)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

49.4% of TELUS shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.5% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of TELUS shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.0% of Rogers Communication shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares TELUS and Rogers Communication”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
TELUS	$14.88 billion	1.50	$724.69 million	$0.55	26.43
Rogers Communication	$21.02 billion	0.99	$1.27 billion	$9.00	4.26

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
TELUS	5.71%	8.76%	2.50%
Rogers Communication	32.49%	17.14%	3.45%

Risk and Volatility

TELUS has a beta of 0.71, suggesting that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Rogers Communication has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its stock price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for TELUS and Rogers Communication, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
TELUS	0	8	1	0	2.11
Rogers Communication	1	4	3	0	2.25

TELUS presently has a consensus target price of $17.75, indicating a potential upside of 22.12%. Rogers Communication has a consensus target price of $36.00, indicating a potential downside of 6.21%. Given TELUS’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe TELUS is more favorable than Rogers Communication.

Dividends

TELUS pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Rogers Communication pays an annual dividend of $1.42 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. TELUS pays out 220.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rogers Communication pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. TELUS has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years. TELUS is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Rogers Communication beats TELUS on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About TELUS

TELUS Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of telecommunications and information technology products and services in Canada. It operates through Technology Solutions and Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segments. The Technology Solutions segment offers a range of telecommunications products and services; network services; healthcare services; mobile technologies equipment; data services, such as internet protocol; television; hosting, managed information technology, and cloud-based services; software, data management, and data analytics-driven smart food-chain and consumer goods technologies; home and business security; healthcare software and technology solutions; and voice and other telecommunications services, as well as mobile and fixed voice and data telecommunications services and products. The Digitally-Led Customer Experiences segment provides digital customer experience and digital-enablement transformation solutions, including artificial intelligence and content management solutions. The company was formerly known as TELUS Communications Inc. and changed its name to TELUS Corporation in February 2005. TELUS Corporation was incorporated in 1998 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.

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.