Head-To-Head Review: VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) and Kyivstar Group (NASDAQ:KYIV)

VEON (NASDAQ:VEON) and Kyivstar Group (NASDAQ:KYIV) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for VEON and Kyivstar Group, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
VEON	1	1	3	0	2.40
Kyivstar Group	0	2	3	0	2.60

VEON presently has a consensus target price of $72.00, suggesting a potential upside of 36.36%. Kyivstar Group has a consensus target price of $16.62, suggesting a potential upside of 22.42%. Given VEON’s higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe VEON is more favorable than Kyivstar Group.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares VEON and Kyivstar Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
VEON	$4.40 billion	0.89	$532.00 million	$7.46	7.08
Kyivstar Group	$1.16 billion	2.71	$124.00 million	$1.07	12.69

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

Profitability

This table compares VEON and Kyivstar Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
VEON	11.65%	44.43%	8.17%
Kyivstar Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional and Insider Ownership

21.3% of VEON shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

VEON beats Kyivstar Group on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About VEON

VEON Ltd., a digital operator, provides connectivity and internet services in Pakistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. It offers mobile telecommunications services, including value added and call completion, national and international roaming, wireless Internet access, mobile financial, and mobile bundle services; data connectivity, cross border transit, voice, Internet, and data services; fixed-line telecommunications using intercity fiber optic networks; and Internet-TV using Fiber to the building technology. The company also sells equipment, infrastructure, and accessories. VEON Ltd. was founded in 1992 and is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

About Kyivstar Group

Kyivstar Group Ltd. provides a range of mobile communication and home Internet services in Ukraine. It offers mobile services, such as voice, messaging and data, mobile and computer Internet, roaming, abroad calling, payment, and other services; fixed telephone communication services; fixed Internet and data transfer services; and mobile virtual PBX services, as well as operates data centers, commercial contact centers, and M2M contact centers. The company also provides loyalty programs, as well as sells telecommunications equipment. The company was founded in 1994 and is based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. Kyivstar Group Ltd. operates as a subsidiary of Vimpelcom Amsterdam B.V.