Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) Competitors

Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) and United States Cellular (NYSE:USM) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, media sentiment, community ranking, analyst recommendations, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and earnings.

Which has more risk & volatility, TDS or USM?

Telephone and Data Systems has a beta of 0.81, suggesting that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, United States Cellular has a beta of 0.48, suggesting that its share price is 52% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate TDS or USM?

Telephone and Data Systems presently has a consensus target price of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 33.78%. United States Cellular has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 28.89%. Given Telephone and Data Systems' higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Telephone and Data Systems is more favorable than United States Cellular.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Telephone and Data Systems	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
United States Cellular	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media favor TDS or USM?

In the previous week, Telephone and Data Systems had 1 more articles in the media than United States Cellular. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Telephone and Data Systems and 3 mentions for United States Cellular. Telephone and Data Systems' average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat United States Cellular's score of 0.89 indicating that Telephone and Data Systems is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Telephone and Data Systems	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
United States Cellular	1 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has stronger valuation and earnings, TDS or USM?

United States Cellular has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Telephone and Data Systems. United States Cellular is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Telephone and Data Systems, 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
Telephone and Data Systems	$5.04B	0.76	-$500M	-$5.40	-6.30
United States Cellular	$3.80B	1.41	$54M	-$0.36	-172.42

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in TDS or USM?

80.0% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 18.0% of United States Cellular shares are held by institutional investors. 14.5% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of United States Cellular shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is TDS or USM more profitable?

United States Cellular has a net margin of -0.79% compared to Telephone and Data Systems' net margin of -10.72%. United States Cellular's return on equity of 1.55% beat Telephone and Data Systems' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Telephone and Data Systems	-10.72%	1.12%	0.40%
United States Cellular	-0.79%	1.55%	0.68%

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in TDS or USM?

Telephone and Data Systems received 50 more outperform votes than United States Cellular when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 65.32% of users gave Telephone and Data Systems an outperform vote while only 56.41% of users gave United States Cellular an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Telephone and Data Systems	Outperform Votes 292 65.32%	Underperform Votes 155 34.68%
United States Cellular	Outperform Votes 242 56.41%	Underperform Votes 187 43.59%

Summary

Telephone and Data Systems beats United States Cellular on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.