United States Cellular (USM) Competitors

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

Does the MarketBeat Community favor USM or TDS?

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 56.15% of users gave United States Cellular an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
United States Cellular	Outperform Votes 242 56.15%	Underperform Votes 189 43.85%
Telephone and Data Systems	Outperform Votes 292 65.32%	Underperform Votes 155 34.68%

Is USM or TDS 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
United States Cellular	-0.79%	1.55%	0.68%
Telephone and Data Systems	-10.72%	1.12%	0.40%

Do analysts recommend USM or TDS?

United States Cellular currently has a consensus target price of $80.00, suggesting a potential upside of 25.05%. Telephone and Data Systems has a consensus target price of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 25.75%. Given Telephone and Data Systems' higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Telephone and Data Systems is more favorable than United States Cellular.

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

Do insiders & institutionals believe in USM or TDS?

18.0% of United States Cellular shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.0% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of United States Cellular shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 14.5% of Telephone and Data Systems shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media prefer USM or TDS?

In the previous week, Telephone and Data Systems had 4 more articles in the media than United States Cellular. MarketBeat recorded 5 mentions for Telephone and Data Systems and 1 mentions for United States Cellular. Telephone and Data Systems' average media sentiment score of 0.54 beat United States Cellular's score of 0.36 indicating that Telephone and Data Systems is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
United States Cellular	1 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Telephone and Data Systems	1 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better valuation & earnings, USM or TDS?

United States Cellular has higher earnings, but lower revenue 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
United States Cellular	$3.91B	1.41	$54M	-$0.36	-177.71
Telephone and Data Systems	$5.16B	0.79	-$500M	-$5.40	-6.70

Which has more volatility and risk, USM or TDS?

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

Summary

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