Reviewing Sprint Corporation (S) and China Telecom Corp (CHA)

Sprint Corporation (NYSE: S) and China Telecom Corp (NYSE:CHA) are both large-cap computer and technology companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, risk, valuation, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and institutional ownership.

Dividends

China Telecom Corp pays an annual dividend of $1.21 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Sprint Corporation does not pay a dividend.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Sprint Corporation and China Telecom Corp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sprint Corporation	5	10	3	0	1.89
China Telecom Corp	0	0	4	0	3.00

Sprint Corporation presently has a consensus price target of $10.41, suggesting a potential upside of 23.53%. Given Sprint Corporation’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Sprint Corporation is more favorable than China Telecom Corp.

Profitability

This table compares Sprint Corporation and China Telecom Corp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sprint Corporation	-2.08%	-3.66%	-0.84%
China Telecom Corp	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk & Volatility

Sprint Corporation has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, China Telecom Corp has a beta of 0.65, meaning that its stock price is 35% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Sprint Corporation and China Telecom Corp’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	EBITDA	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sprint Corporation	$33.49 billion	1.01	$10.80 billion	($0.18)	-46.83
China Telecom Corp	$53.89 billion	0.73	$13.68 billion	N/A	N/A

China Telecom Corp has higher revenue and earnings than Sprint Corporation.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

14.3% of Sprint Corporation shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.4% of China Telecom Corp shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of Sprint Corporation shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

China Telecom Corp beats Sprint Corporation on 8 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sprint Corporation

Sprint Corporation (Sprint) is a holding company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, is a communications company offering a range of wireless and wireline communications products and services that are designed to meet the needs of consumers, businesses, government subscribers and resellers. It operates through two segments: Wireless and Wireline. The Company offers wireless services on a postpaid and prepaid payment basis to retail subscribers and also on a wholesale basis. The Wireline segment provides voice, data and Internet Protocol (IP) communication services to its Wireless segment. The Company offers wireless and wireline services to subscribers in approximately 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands under the Sprint corporate brand, which includes its retail brands of Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile and Assurance Wireless on its wireless networks utilizing various technologies.

About China Telecom Corp

China Telecom Corporation Limited is an investment holding company principally engaged in telecommunications and related businesses. The Company provides integrated information services, including wireline and mobile telecommunications services, Internet access services, information services and other value-added telecommunications services. The Company mainly operates its business in domestic market.