Consolidated Communications (CNSL) Competitors

Consolidated Communications (NASDAQ:CNSL) and IDT (NYSE:IDT) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, community ranking and profitability.

Is CNSL or IDT more profitable?

Consolidated Communications has a net margin of 9.83% compared to IDT's net margin of 3.93%. IDT's return on equity of 28.90% beat Consolidated Communications' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Consolidated Communications	9.83%	-10.31%	-1.76%
IDT	3.93%	28.90%	10.67%

Do insiders and institutionals believe in CNSL or IDT?

80.0% of Consolidated Communications shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 81.3% of IDT shares are held by institutional investors. 1.7% of Consolidated Communications shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of IDT shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation & earnings, CNSL or IDT?

Consolidated Communications has higher earnings, but lower revenue than IDT. Consolidated Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than IDT, 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
Consolidated Communications	$1.19B	0.35	$140.09M	$0.57	6.19
IDT	$1.36B	0.42	$27.03M	$1.93	11.65

Does the media refer more to CNSL or IDT?

In the previous week, IDT had 2 more articles in the media than Consolidated Communications. MarketBeat recorded 3 mentions for IDT and 1 mentions for Consolidated Communications. Consolidated Communications' average media sentiment score of 1.67 beat IDT's score of 0.26 indicating that Consolidated Communications is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Consolidated Communications	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
IDT	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community favor CNSL or IDT?

Consolidated Communications received 133 more outperform votes than IDT when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.83% of users gave IDT an outperform vote while only 55.11% of users gave Consolidated Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Consolidated Communications	Outperform Votes 302 55.11%	Underperform Votes 246 44.89%
IDT	Outperform Votes 169 62.83%	Underperform Votes 100 37.17%

Do analysts prefer CNSL or IDT?

Consolidated Communications currently has a consensus target price of $3.50, indicating a potential downside of 0.85%. Given Consolidated Communications' higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Consolidated Communications is more favorable than IDT.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Consolidated Communications	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
IDT	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	N/A

Which has more risk & volatility, CNSL or IDT?

Consolidated Communications has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, IDT has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

IDT beats Consolidated Communications on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.