Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) versus Telecom Italia (OTCMKTS:TIIAY) Head to Head Contrast

Telecom Italia (OTCMKTS:TIIAY) and Shenandoah Telecommunications (NASDAQ:SHEN) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

62.0% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by institutional investors. 4.5% of Shenandoah Telecommunications shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Telecom Italia and Shenandoah Telecommunications, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telecom Italia	0	1	1	3	3.40
Shenandoah Telecommunications	0	0	1	0	3.00

Shenandoah Telecommunications has a consensus price target of $26.00, indicating a potential upside of 75.68%. Given Shenandoah Telecommunications’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Shenandoah Telecommunications is more favorable than Telecom Italia.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Telecom Italia and Shenandoah Telecommunications”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Telecom Italia	$15.88 billion	N/A	-$660.08 million	N/A	N/A
Shenandoah Telecommunications	$328.06 million	2.47	$190.39 million	($0.61)	-24.26

Shenandoah Telecommunications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Telecom Italia.

Profitability

This table compares Telecom Italia and Shenandoah Telecommunications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telecom Italia	N/A	N/A	N/A
Shenandoah Telecommunications	-10.07%	-3.18%	-1.70%

Volatility and Risk

Telecom Italia has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.Comparatively, Shenandoah Telecommunications has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Telecom Italia beats Shenandoah Telecommunications on 7 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia S.p.A., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Italy and internationally. The company operates through Domestic, Brazil, and Other Operations segments. It offers fixed and mobile voice and Internet, and public telephony services, as well as products managed and developed for individuals and families; and voice, data, and Internet services and products, and information and communications technology solutions for top, public sector and large account customers. The company also manages and develops a portfolio of regulated and unregulated wholesale services for fixed-line and mobile telecommunications operators; and development, engineering, construction, and operation of network infrastructures, information technology (IT), and systems and properties. Telecom Italia S.p.A. was incorporated in 1908 and is based in Milan, Italy.

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.