Black Box Corporation (NASDAQ: BBOX) and Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom (NYSE:TEO) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, earnings and risk.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Black Box Corporation and Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Black Box Corporation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.50 |
Black Box Corporation currently has a consensus price target of $10.00, indicating a potential upside of 146.91%. Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom has a consensus price target of $29.00, indicating a potential upside of 3.06%. Given Black Box Corporation’s higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Black Box Corporation is more favorable than Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom.
Volatility and Risk
Black Box Corporation has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Black Box Corporation and Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Black Box Corporation | $828.90 million | 0.07 | $15.97 million | ($1.08) | -3.75 |
| Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom | $3.16 billion | 1.73 | $823.94 million | $1.69 | 16.65 |
Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom has higher revenue and earnings than Black Box Corporation. Black Box Corporation is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Black Box Corporation and Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Black Box Corporation | -1.97% | 3.00% | 0.98% |
| Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom | 8.92% | 25.23% | 10.79% |
Dividends
Black Box Corporation pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 11.9%. Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom pays an annual dividend of $0.45 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Black Box Corporation pays out -44.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom pays out 26.6% 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. Black Box Corporation is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
93.5% of Black Box Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.9% of Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Black Box Corporation shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom beats Black Box Corporation on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Black Box Corporation
Black Box Corporation is a technology solutions provider. The Company is engaged in designing, building, managing and securing the information technology (IT) infrastructure. Offerings under the Company’s Products platform include IT infrastructure, specialty networking, multimedia and keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) switching. Offerings under its Services platform include unified communications, data infrastructure and managed services. It conducts business globally and manages its business on a geographic-service type basis consisting of four segments: North America Products, North America Services, International Products and International Services. The offerings of its Products platform are distributed through value-added resellers, direct marketing manufacturers, mass merchandisers, Web retailers and others. The offerings of its Services platform are distributed through value-added resellers, manufacturers and large system integrators, among others.
About Telecom Argentina Stet - France Telecom
Telecom Argentina S.A. provides fixed-line telecommunications services in Argentina, and also provides other telephone-related services, such as international long-distance service, data transmission, information technology solutions outsourcing and Internet services. The Company’s segments include Fixed Telecommunications Services (Fixed Services), Personal Mobile Telecommunications Services (Personal Mobile Services) and Nucleo Mobile Telecommunications Services (Nucleo Mobile Services). The Company, through its subsidiaries, also provides mobile telecommunications services and international wholesale services. The Fixed services segment consists of basic telephone services, interconnection services, data transmission and Internet services, information and communication technology services, and other telephone services. The Company, through its subsidiaries, such as Telecom Personal S.A. and Nucleo S.A., provides mobile services in Argentina and Paraguay, respectively.
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