Verizon Communications - VZ Competitors

AT&T (NYSE:T) and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, community ranking, earnings, media sentiment and risk.

Which has better earnings and valuation, T or VZ?

Verizon Communications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than AT&T. AT&T is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Verizon Communications, 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
AT&T	$168.86 billion	0.67	$20.08 billion	$2.72	5.86
Verizon Communications	$133.61 billion	1.23	$22.07 billion	$4.99	7.85

Is T or VZ more profitable?

Verizon Communications has a net margin of 15.48% compared to AT&T's net margin of 13.41%. Verizon Communications' return on equity of 26.95% beat AT&T's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
AT&T	13.41%	13.11%	4.28%
Verizon Communications	15.48%	26.95%	6.19%

Which has more risk & volatility, T or VZ?

AT&T has a beta of 0.52, suggesting that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Verizon Communications has a beta of 0.39, suggesting that its stock price is 61% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate T or VZ?

AT&T presently has a consensus target price of $23.29, indicating a potential upside of 46.04%. Verizon Communications has a consensus target price of $54.39, indicating a potential upside of 38.78%. Given AT&T's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe AT&T is more favorable than Verizon Communications.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
AT&T	0 Sell rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.41
Verizon Communications	2 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.10

Is T or VZ a better dividend stock?

AT&T pays an annual dividend of $1.11 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.0%. Verizon Communications pays an annual dividend of $2.56 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. AT&T pays out 40.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Verizon Communications pays out 51.3% 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. Verizon Communications has raised its dividend for 17 consecutive years. AT&T is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of T or VZ?

52.9% of AT&T shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.8% of Verizon Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of AT&T shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of Verizon Communications shares are owned by company 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.

Does the media prefer T or VZ?

In the previous week, Verizon Communications had 16 more articles in the media than AT&T. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Verizon Communications and 11 mentions for AT&T. AT&T's average media sentiment score of 0.16 beat Verizon Communications' score of 0.00 indicating that AT&T is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
AT&T	0 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Verizon Communications	3 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer T or VZ?

AT&T received 315 more outperform votes than Verizon Communications when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 68.79% of users gave AT&T an outperform vote while only 59.45% of users gave Verizon Communications an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
AT&T	Outperform Votes 1391 68.79%	Underperform Votes 631 31.21%
Verizon Communications	Outperform Votes 1076 59.45%	Underperform Votes 734 40.55%

Summary

AT&T beats Verizon Communications on 11 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.