Airtel Africa (AAF) Competitors

Airtel Africa (LON:AAF) and Vodafone Group Public (LON:VOD) are both communication services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Is AAF or VOD more profitable?

Vodafone Group Public has a net margin of 1.79% compared to Airtel Africa's net margin of -1.67%. Vodafone Group Public's return on equity of 1.20% beat Airtel Africa's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Airtel Africa	-1.67%	-3.58%	9.60%
Vodafone Group Public	1.79%	1.20%	1.45%

Does the media prefer AAF or VOD?

In the previous week, Airtel Africa and Airtel Africa both had 3 articles in the media. Vodafone Group Public's average media sentiment score of 1.11 beat Airtel Africa's score of 0.91 indicating that Vodafone Group Public is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Airtel Africa	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Vodafone Group Public	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in AAF or VOD?

6.8% of Airtel Africa shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 59.2% of Vodafone Group Public shares are held by institutional investors. 24.9% of Airtel Africa shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Vodafone Group Public shares are held 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.

Do analysts recommend AAF or VOD?

Airtel Africa currently has a consensus target price of GBX 128, indicating a potential downside of 46.76%. Vodafone Group Public has a consensus target price of GBX 73, indicating a potential downside of 13.18%. Given Vodafone Group Public's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Vodafone Group Public is more favorable than Airtel Africa.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Airtel Africa	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Vodafone Group Public	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more volatility and risk, AAF or VOD?

Airtel Africa has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Vodafone Group Public has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is AAF or VOD a better dividend stock?

Airtel Africa pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.0%. Vodafone Group Public pays an annual dividend of GBX 0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.1%. Airtel Africa pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vodafone Group Public pays out -42.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Vodafone Group Public is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Which has better valuation & earnings, AAF or VOD?

Vodafone Group Public has higher revenue and earnings than Airtel Africa. Vodafone Group Public is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Airtel Africa, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Airtel Africa	£5.21B	1.68	-£97.44M	£0.09	2,613.04
Vodafone Group Public	£37.45B	0.54	£797.39M	-£0.16	-527.48

Summary

Vodafone Group Public beats Airtel Africa on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.