Echostar (NASDAQ:ECHO – Get Free Report) and News (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Free Report) are both large-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings for Echostar and News, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Echostar | 1 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3.00 |
| News | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.86 |
Echostar currently has a consensus price target of $139.44, indicating a potential upside of 47.37%. News has a consensus price target of $37.80, indicating a potential upside of 43.24%. Given Echostar’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Echostar is more favorable than News.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Echostar and News”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Echostar | $15.00 billion | 1.83 | -$14.50 billion | ($24.92) | -3.80 |
| News | $9.16 billion | 1.56 | $573.00 million | $1.12 | 23.56 |
News has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Echostar. Echostar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than News, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Risk & Volatility
Echostar has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, News has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Echostar and News’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Echostar | 81.29% | 22.85% | 6.09% |
| News | 6.76% | 7.42% | 4.45% |
Institutional and Insider Ownership
33.6% of Echostar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.0% of News shares are owned by institutional investors. 54.6% of Echostar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 11.6% of News shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Echostar beats News on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Echostar
EchoStar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides networking technologies and services worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Hughes and EchoStar Satellite Services (ESS). The Hughes segment offers broadband network technologies, managed services, equipment, hardware, satellite services, and communications solutions to government and enterprise customers. The segment also designs, provides, and installs gateway and terminal equipment to customers for other satellite systems. In addition, it designs, develops, constructs, and provides telecommunication networks comprising satellite ground segment systems and terminals to mobile system operators and enterprise customers. Further, this segment designs, provides, and installs gateway and terminal equipment to customers for other satellite systems, as well as offers satellite ground segment systems and terminals for other satellite systems, including mobile system operators. The ESS segment provides satellite services using its owned and leased in-orbit satellites and related licenses to offer satellite services on a full-time and/or occasional-use basis to the U.S. government service providers, internet service providers, broadcast news organizations, content providers, and private enterprise customers. It serves customers in North America, South and Central America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, India, and the Middle East. The company was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.
About News
News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other. The company distributes content and data products, including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Investor’s Business Daily, Factiva, Dow Jones Risk & Compliance, Dow Jones Newswires, and Dow Jones Energy through various media channels, such as newspapers, newswires, websites, mobile apps, newsletters, magazines, proprietary databases, live journalism, video, and podcasts. It also owns and operates Monday to Friday, Saturday and Sunday, weekly, and bi-weekly newspapers comprising The Australian, The Weekend Australian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph, Herald Sun, Sunday Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Sunday Mail, The Advertiser, Sunday Mail, The Sun, The Sun on Sunday, The Times, The Sunday Times, and New York Post, as well as digital mastheads and other websites. In addition, the company publishes general fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and religious books; provides sports, entertainment, and news services to pay-TV and streaming subscribers, and other commercial licensees through satellite and internet distribution; and broadcasts rights to live sporting events. Further, it offers property and property-related advertising and services on its websites and mobile applications; digital real estate services; and financial services. News Corporation was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
Receive News & Ratings for Echostar Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Echostar and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
