Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) versus Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) Financial Analysis

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYA) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, dividends and institutional ownership.

Profitability

This table compares Lumen Technologies and Liberty Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lumen Technologies	-9.19%	-158.40%	-0.59%
Liberty Global	-60.38%	-22.64%	-10.77%

Volatility and Risk

Lumen Technologies has a beta of 1.45, indicating that its stock price is 45% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 1.12, indicating that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

66.2% of Lumen Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 37.2% of Liberty Global shares are held by institutional investors. 2.3% of Lumen Technologies shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 13.3% of Liberty Global shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Lumen Technologies and Liberty Global”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lumen Technologies	$12.69 billion	0.61	-$55.00 million	($1.65)	-4.60
Liberty Global	$4.77 billion	0.78	$1.59 billion	($6.09)	-1.81

Liberty Global has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lumen Technologies. Lumen Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Liberty Global, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Lumen Technologies and Liberty Global, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lumen Technologies	1	5	1	0	2.00
Liberty Global	2	6	2	0	2.00

Lumen Technologies presently has a consensus target price of $5.97, suggesting a potential downside of 21.40%. Liberty Global has a consensus target price of $14.26, suggesting a potential upside of 29.67%. Given Liberty Global’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Liberty Global is more favorable than Lumen Technologies.

Summary

Liberty Global beats Lumen Technologies on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc., a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated products and services to business and residential customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Business and Mass Markets. It offers dark fiber, edge cloud services, internet protocol, managed security, software-defined wide area networks, secure access service edge, unified communications and collaboration, and optical wavelengths services; ethernet and VPN data networks services; and legacy services to manage cash flow, including time division multiplexing voice, private line, and other legacy services, as well as sells communication equipment, and IT solutions. The company also provides high speed and lower speed broadband service to residential and small business customers; local and long-distance voice services, professional services, and other ancillary services; and federal broadband and state support programs. It serves its products and services under the Lumen, Quantum Fiber, and CenturyLink brands. The company was formerly known as CenturyLink, Inc. and changed its name to Lumen Technologies, Inc. in September 2020. Lumen Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana.

About Liberty Global

Liberty Global Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides broadband internet, video, fixed-line telephony, and mobile communications services to residential and business customers. It offers value-added broadband services, such as WiFi features, security, anti-virus, firewall, spam protection, smart home services, online storage solutions, and web spaces; and Connect Box that delivers in-home Wi-Fi service. The company provides various tiers of digital video programming and audio services, as well as digital video recorders and multimedia home gateway systems; Horizon 5, a cloud-based, multi-screen entertainment platform that combines linear television, including recording and replay features and video-on-demand services; Horizon Go, an online mobile app; and channels, including general entertainment, sports, movies, series, documentaries, lifestyles, news, adult, children, and ethnic and foreign channels. In addition, it offers postpaid and prepaid mobile services; circuit-switched telephony services; and personal call manager, unified messaging, and a second or third phone line at an incremental cost. Further, the company offers business services comprising voice, advanced data, video, wireless, cloud-based services, and mobile and converged fixed-mobile services to small or home offices, small businesses, and medium and large enterprises, as well as on a wholesale basis to other operators. It operates in Belgium, Switzerland, Ireland, Slovakia, and internationally. Liberty Global Ltd. was founded in 2004 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.