Analyzing BCE (NYSE:BCE) & Alvarion (OTCMKTS:ALVRQ)

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

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alvarion	N/A	N/A	N/A
BCE	25.49%	12.90%	3.25%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

41.5% of BCE shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Alvarion shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of BCE shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

Alvarion has a beta of -1.55, suggesting that its stock price is 255% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, BCE has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Alvarion 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
Alvarion	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
BCE	$17.51 billion	1.26	$4.62 billion	$4.89	4.85

BCE has higher revenue and earnings than Alvarion.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Alvarion and BCE, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alvarion	0	0	0	0	0.00
BCE	0	5	6	0	2.55

BCE has a consensus target price of $29.25, indicating a potential upside of 23.31%. Given BCE’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe BCE is more favorable than Alvarion.

Summary

BCE beats Alvarion on 9 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alvarion

Alvarion Ltd. provides autonomous Wi-Fi network products worldwide. The company designs solutions for carrier Wi-Fi, enterprise connectivity, smart city, smart hospitality, and connected campuses and events. It offers BreezeACCESS, a wireless broadband access solution for license-exempt frequencies; BreezeMAX Extreme, a WiMAX 16e wireless broadband technology; BreezeNET, a point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networking solution for connecting buildings, campuses, industrial zones, and remote sites; and BreezeULTRA, a family of wireless broadband products that operate in the 4.95.9 GHz unlicensed frequency band. The company also provides WBS and WBSn, which are carrier-grade outdoor Wi-Fi base stations; WBSac, a carrier-grade Wi-Fi solution for buildings, workplaces, universities, schools, hospitals, hotels, and large stores; Arena Controller, a Wi-Fi cloud controller that acts as mediation device between the operator's control core and the Wi-Fi infrastructure; and Star Management Suite, a set of carrier-class tools, which support the wireless broadband life-cycle – from initial installation to full service provision, and ongoing maintenance and support activities. It serves carriers, local governments, and hospitality sectors. The company was formerly known as BreezeCOM Ltd. and changed its name to Alvarion Ltd. as result of merger with Floware Wireless Systems Ltd. in August 2001. The company was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Herzliya, Israel. Alvarion Ltd. is a subsidiary of SuperCom Ltd.

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.