Head-To-Head Review: Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) versus Nuvera Communications (OTCMKTS:NUVR)

Lumen Technologies (NYSE:LUMN) and Nuvera Communications (OTCMKTS:NUVR) are both small-cap business services companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

66.2% of Lumen Technologies shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 13.4% of Nuvera Communications shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.7% of Lumen Technologies shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.3% of Nuvera Communications shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Lumen Technologies and Nuvera Communications’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Lumen Technologies	-70.74%	4.85%	0.51%
Nuvera Communications	-4.89%	5.84%	2.42%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings for Lumen Technologies and Nuvera Communications, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Lumen Technologies	1	4	0	0	1.80
Nuvera Communications	0	0	0	0	N/A

Lumen Technologies currently has a consensus target price of $1.81, suggesting a potential upside of 32.60%. Given Lumen Technologies’ higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Lumen Technologies is more favorable than Nuvera Communications.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Lumen Technologies and Nuvera Communications’ top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Lumen Technologies	$14.56 billion	0.09	-$10.30 billion	($10.47)	-0.13
Nuvera Communications	$65.79 million	0.89	-$3.21 million	($0.62)	-18.31

Nuvera Communications has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Lumen Technologies. Nuvera Communications is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Lumen Technologies, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

Lumen Technologies has a beta of 1.1, meaning that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nuvera Communications has a beta of 0.3, meaning that its share price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Nuvera Communications beats Lumen Technologies on 7 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen Technologies, Inc., a facilities-based technology and communications company, provides various integrated products and services to business and residential customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Business and Mass Markets. It offers dark fiber, edge cloud services, internet protocol, managed security, software-defined wide area networks, secure access service edge, unified communications and collaboration, and optical wavelengths services; ethernet and VPN data networks services; and legacy services to manage cash flow, including time division multiplexing voice, private line, and other legacy services, as well as sells communication equipment, and IT solutions. The company also provides high speed and lower speed broadband service to residential and small business customers; local and long-distance voice services, professional services, and other ancillary services; and federal broadband and state support programs. It serves its products and services under the Lumen, Quantum Fiber, and CenturyLink brands. The company was formerly known as CenturyLink, Inc. and changed its name to Lumen Technologies, Inc. in September 2020. Lumen Technologies, Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana.

About Nuvera Communications

Nuvera Communications, Inc. operates as a diversified communications company in the United States. The company offers broadband Internet access and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phone services; voice services to make and receive telephone calls within a defined local calling area; and network access services to other communication carriers for the use of its facilities to terminate or originate long distance calls on its fiber network. It also provides video services, including commercial TV programming, cable television services, and video-on-demand services; data services for business and residential customers; email and managed services comprising web hosting and design, online file back up, and online file storage; directory assistance, operator service, and long-distance private lines; directory publishing, bill processing, and other customer services; and fiber-delivered communications and managed information technology solutions, as well as sells and services customer premise equipment. In addition, the company is involved in the retail sale and service of cellular phones and accessories; and the operation of various IPTV and CATV systems. The company serves communities in Minnesota and Iowa through customer service call centers, its website, and commissioned sales representatives. The company was formerly known as New Ulm Telecom, Inc. and changed its name to Nuvera Communications, Inc. in June 2018. Nuvera Communications, Inc. was incorporated in 1905 and is headquartered in New Ulm, Minnesota.