SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) and BCE (NYSE:BCE) Critical Comparison

BCE (NYSE:BCE) and SurgePays (NASDAQ:SURG) are both utilities companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for BCE and SurgePays, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BCE	4	7	1	1	1.92
SurgePays	0	0	1	0	3.00

BCE currently has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 77.58%. SurgePays has a consensus target price of $8.50, indicating a potential upside of 548.85%. Given SurgePays’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe SurgePays is more favorable than BCE.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares BCE and SurgePays”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BCE	$24.41 billion	0.85	$251.08 million	$0.12	187.71
SurgePays	$83.60 million	0.32	$20.62 million	($1.13)	-1.16

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

Risk & Volatility

BCE has a beta of 0.57, meaning that its stock price is 43% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SurgePays has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its stock price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

41.5% of BCE shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 6.9% of SurgePays shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.2% of BCE shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.4% of SurgePays shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares BCE and SurgePays’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BCE	0.99%	17.89%	3.88%
SurgePays	-27.39%	-55.63%	-43.61%

Summary

BCE beats SurgePays on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BCE

BCE Inc., a communications company, provides wireless, wireline, Internet, and television (TV) services to residential, business, and wholesale customers in Canada. The company operates through two segments, Bell Communication and Technology Services, and Bell Media. The Bell Communication and Technology Services segment provides wireless products and services including mobile data and voice plans and devices; wireline products and services comprising data, including internet access, internet protocol television, cloud-based services, and business solutions, as well as voice, and other communication services and products; and satellite TV and connectivity services for residential, small and medium-sized business, government, and large enterprise customers. This segment also buys and sells local telephone, long distance, and data and other services from or to resellers and other carriers; and operates consumer electronics retail stores. The Bell Media segment provides conventional TV, specialty TV, pay TV, streaming services, digital media services, radio broadcasting services, and out-of-home advertising services. BCE Inc. was founded in 1880 and is headquartered in Verdun, Canada.

About SurgePays

SurgePays, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a financial technology and telecom company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mobile Virtual Network Operators, Comprehensive Platform Services, and Lead Generation. The company offers subsidized and non-subsidized mobile virtual network operators for internet connectivity through mobile broadband services to consumers; ACH banking relationships and fintech transactions platform to convenience stores; wireless top-up transactions and wireless product aggregation; and lead generation and case management solutions primarily to law firms in the mass tort industry, as well as call center activities. SurgePays, Inc. is headquartered in Bartlett, Tennessee.