ADTRAN (NASDAQ:ADTN) versus Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Head to Head Review

Nokia (NYSE:NOK) and ADTRAN (NASDAQ:ADTN) are both technology companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Nokia and ADTRAN”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nokia	$22.50 billion	2.64	$736.54 million	$0.14	73.92
ADTRAN	$1.14 billion	0.53	-$45.66 million	($0.28)	-26.64

Nokia has higher revenue and earnings than ADTRAN. ADTRAN is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nokia, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Risk & Volatility

Nokia has a beta of 1.19, meaning that its share price is 19% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ADTRAN has a beta of 1.48, meaning that its share price is 48% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

5.3% of Nokia shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.6% of ADTRAN shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.2% of ADTRAN shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Nokia and ADTRAN’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nokia	3.49%	9.83%	5.53%
ADTRAN	-2.29%	14.24%	1.66%

Dividends

Nokia pays an annual dividend of $0.12 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. ADTRAN pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Nokia pays out 85.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. ADTRAN pays out -128.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. ADTRAN is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Nokia and ADTRAN, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nokia	2	3	13	1	2.68
ADTRAN	1	2	4	0	2.43

Nokia currently has a consensus target price of $14.12, indicating a potential upside of 36.45%. ADTRAN has a consensus target price of $14.67, indicating a potential upside of 96.60%. Given ADTRAN’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe ADTRAN is more favorable than Nokia.

Summary

Nokia beats ADTRAN on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Nokia

Nokia Oyj provides mobile, fixed, and cloud network solutions worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Network Infrastructure, Mobile Networks, Cloud and Network Services, and Nokia Technologies. The company provides fixed networking solutions, such as fiber and copper-based access infrastructure, in-home Wi-Fi solutions, and cloud and virtualization services; IP networking solutions, including IP access, aggregation, and edge and core routing for residential, mobile, enterprise and cloud applications; optical networks solutions that provides optical transport networks for metro, regional, and long-haul applications, and subsea applications; and submarine networks for undersea cable transmission. It serves its products and services to communications service providers, webscales and hyperscalers, digital industries, and government. The company also offers mobile technology products and services for radio access networks and microwave radio links for transport networks, network management solutions, as well as network planning, optimization, network deployment, and technical support services. In addition, it offers cloud and network services, including core network solutions, such as voice and packet core; business applications, such as security, automation, and monetization; cloud and cognitive services; and enterprise solutions, including private wireless and industrial automation. Further, the company licenses intellectual property, including patents, technologies, and the Nokia brand. Nokia Oyj was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.

About ADTRAN

ADTRAN Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides networking and communications platforms, software, systems, and services in the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Network Solutions, and Services & Support. It offers residential gateways; ethernet passive optical network ONUs; gigabit passive optical network/XGS-PON ONTs; traditional SSE, routers, and switches; edge cloud; carrier ethernet network interface devices; Optical Line Terminals; Packet Aggregation, Copper Access, and Oscilloquartz; optical transport and engine solutions; infrastructure monitoring solution; and training, professional, software, and managed services. The company also provides various software, such as Mosaic One SaaS, n-Command, Procloud, MCP, AOE and ACI-E, and Ensemble Controller. It serves large, medium, and small service providers; alternative service providers, such as utilities, municipalities and fiber overbuilders; cable/MSOs; and SMBs and distributed enterprises. ADTRAN Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 1985 and is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.