Critical Contrast: Liberty Global PLC (LBTYA) versus Liberty Global PLC (LILAK)

Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ: LBTYA) and Liberty Global PLC (NASDAQ:LILAK) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitabiliy, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Liberty Global PLC and Liberty Global PLC, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Liberty Global PLC	0	2	11	0	2.85
Liberty Global PLC	0	0	2	0	3.00

Liberty Global PLC currently has a consensus target price of $41.36, suggesting a potential upside of 23.14%. Liberty Global PLC has a consensus target price of $35.00, suggesting a potential upside of 37.36%. Given Liberty Global PLC’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Liberty Global PLC is more favorable than Liberty Global PLC.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

23.6% of Liberty Global PLC shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.7% of Liberty Global PLC shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of Liberty Global PLC shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Liberty Global PLC and Liberty Global PLC’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Liberty Global PLC	11.98%	14.26%	2.67%
Liberty Global PLC	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Liberty Global PLC has a beta of 1.66, indicating that its stock price is 66% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Global PLC has a beta of 1.49, indicating that its stock price is 49% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Liberty Global PLC and Liberty Global PLC’s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Liberty Global PLC	$19.85 billion	0.40	$8.80 billion	$2.17	15.48
Liberty Global PLC	$3.33 billion	0.92	$1.29 billion	($2.74)	-9.30

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

Summary

Liberty Global PLC beats Liberty Global PLC on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

Liberty Global PLC Company Profile

Liberty Global PLC, formerly Liberty Global, Inc., is an international cable company with operations in 14 countries. The Company’s tripleplay services are provided through networks and technology platforms that connect approximately 25 million customers subscribing to over 47 million television, broadband Internet and telephony services. The Company’s consumer brands include Virgin Media, UPC, Unitymedia, Kabel BW, Telenet and VTR. The Company’s operations also include Chellomedia, the Company’s content division, Liberty Global Business Services, a commercial division and Liberty Global Ventures, its investment fund. In June 2013, Liberty Global Inc completed the acquisition of Virgin Media Inc (Virgin Media).