Reviewing PLDT (OTCMKTS:PHTCF) and Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN)

Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) and PLDT (OTCMKTS:PHTCF) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, profitability, earnings and valuation.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

62.0% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 32.2% of PLDT shares are held by institutional investors. 5.0% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Shenandoah Telecommunications and PLDT”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Shenandoah Telecommunications	$357.85 million	1.90	-$39.39 million	($0.78)	-15.76
PLDT	N/A	N/A	N/A	$159.32	0.11

PLDT has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Shenandoah Telecommunications. Shenandoah Telecommunications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PLDT, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Shenandoah Telecommunications pays an annual dividend of $0.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. PLDT pays an annual dividend of $128.17 per share and has a dividend yield of 706.2%. Shenandoah Telecommunications pays out -14.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. PLDT pays out 80.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Shenandoah Telecommunications has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Shenandoah Telecommunications and PLDT’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Shenandoah Telecommunications	-10.83%	-4.54%	-2.07%
PLDT	N/A	N/A	N/A

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Shenandoah Telecommunications and PLDT, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Shenandoah Telecommunications	1	0	2	0	2.33
PLDT	0	0	0	0	0.00

Shenandoah Telecommunications currently has a consensus target price of $27.50, suggesting a potential upside of 123.69%. Given Shenandoah Telecommunications’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Shenandoah Telecommunications is more favorable than PLDT.

Summary

Shenandoah Telecommunications beats PLDT on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Shenandoah Telecommunications

Shenandoah Telecommunications Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides a range of broadband communication services and cell tower colocation space in the Mid-Atlantic portion of the United States. It operates in two segments, Broadband and Tower. The company Broadband segment offers broadband, video, and voice services to residential and commercial customers in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky through hybrid fiber coaxial cable under the Shentel brand; and fiber optic services under the Glo Fiber brand name. This segment also leases dark fiber and provides Ethernet and wavelength fiber optic services to enterprise and wholesale customers under the Glo Fiber Enterprise and Glo Fiber Wholesale brand names; and provides voice data and DSL telephone services. The Tower segment owns macro cellular towers and leases colocation space to the wireless communications providers. Shenandoah Telecommunications Company was founded in 1902 and is based in Edinburg, Virginia.

About PLDT

PLDT Inc. provides telecommunications and digital services in the Philippines. The company operates through three segments: Wireless, Fixed Line, and Others. It offers cellular mobile, Internet broadband distribution, operations support, software development, and satellite information and messaging services; and sells Wi-Fi access equipment. The company also provides fixed line telecommunications services; business infrastructure and solutions; intelligent data processing and implementation, and data analytics insight generation services; and information and communications infrastructure for Internet-based services, e-commerce, customer relationship management, and information technology (IT) related services. In addition, it offers managed IT outsourcing, Internet-based purchasing, IT consulting and professional, and bills printing and other related value-added services; distributes Filipino channels and content services; and provides full-services customer rewards and loyalty programs. Further, the company engages in the sale of mobile handsets, broadband data routers, tablets, and accessories; and cross-border digital platforms. Additionally, it provides gaming support services; mobile internet and broadband, and data services; content provider and develops mobile application; IT solution; data and network; domestic leased lines; alternative messaging solutions, such as over-the-top services, social media, and messenger application; inbound roaming and other services; mobile prepaid and postpaid services; and fixed wireless broadband services. The company was formerly known as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company and changed its name to PLDT Inc. in July 2016. PLDT Inc. was incorporated in 1928 and is headquartered in Makati City, the Philippines.