Head-To-Head Analysis: Liberty Global (LBTYB) and The Competition

Liberty Global (NASDAQ:LBTYB) is one of 259 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Liberty Global to similar businesses based on the strength of its dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Global and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Global	-62.11%	-28.82%	-13.28%
Liberty Global Competitors	-19.88%	-49.41%	-5.25%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Liberty Global and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Global	$4.88 billion	-$7.14 billion	-1.38
Liberty Global Competitors	$2.95 billion	-$39.20 million	19.62

Liberty Global has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its competitors. Liberty Global is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

0.5% of Liberty Global shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Liberty Global shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Liberty Global and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Global	1	0	0	0	1.00
Liberty Global Competitors	2208	6828	10789	469	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 15.41%. Given Liberty Global’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Liberty Global has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Risk and Volatility

Liberty Global has a beta of 0.43, indicating that its stock price is 57% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global’s competitors have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Liberty Global competitors beat Liberty Global on 11 of the 13 factors compared.

Liberty Global Company Profile

Liberty Global Plc is an international television and broadband company, which engages in the provision of broadband communications services. It operates through the following geographical segments: U.K. and Ireland, Belgium, Switzerland, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central and Corporate. Its products include broadband, WiFi, connectivity products, TV platforms, and TV content. The company was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.