Cable One (NYSE:CABO – Get Free Report) and Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYK – Get Free Report) are both communication services companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and dividends.
Risk and Volatility
Cable One has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its share price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Cable One and Liberty Global, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Cable One | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1.67 |
| Liberty Global | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.00 |
Cable One currently has a consensus target price of $80.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,350.33%. Given Cable One’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Cable One is more favorable than Liberty Global.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Cable One and Liberty Global”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Cable One | $1.50 billion | 0.02 | -$356.46 million | ($185.06) | -0.03 |
| Liberty Global | $4.88 billion | 0.56 | -$7.14 billion | ($8.98) | -0.89 |
Cable One has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Liberty Global. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cable One, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
89.9% of Cable One shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 46.1% of Liberty Global shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Cable One shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 9.9% of Liberty Global 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.
Profitability
This table compares Cable One and Liberty Global’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Cable One | -72.83% | -3.97% | -0.86% |
| Liberty Global | -62.12% | -28.83% | -13.28% |
Summary
Cable One beats Liberty Global on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Cable One
Cable One, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides data, video, and voice services in the United States. The company offers residential data services, a service to enhance Wi-Fi signal throughout the home. It also provides various residential video services from basic video service to digital services with access to hundreds of channels; and provides a cloud-based DVR feature that does not require the use of a set-top boxes. In addition, the company offers Sparklight TV, an IPTV video service that allows customers to stream its video channels from the cloud through an app on supported devices, such as the Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, and Android-based smart televisions. Further, it provides data, voice, and video products to business customers, including small to mid-markets, enterprises, and wholesale and carrier customers. The company serves residential and business customers, comprising data, video, and voice services. Cable One, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona.
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.
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