DirecTV (DTV): A Growing Entertainment Provider

As you can see, Investors would rather have owned DirecTV than Time Warner Cable over the past five years. At the present time, DirecTV is trading at 13 times earnings and Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) is trading at 15 times earnings, so this isn’t likely to factor into your decision moving forward. Margins are also similar.

Time Warner Cable Inc (NYSE:TWC) is focusing on high speed service as a growth catalyst. Whether this strategy will be effective over the long haul remains to be seen.  Then there’s the Liberty Media stuff. 27% of Charter Communications is owned by Liberty Media and the rumor is Charter Communications would like to buy Time Warner Cable.  Now Time Warner Cable is massive, around $33 billion, so such a deal could bring uncertainty to the stock.

Getting back to Dish, it would like to acquire a nationwide wireless network to better compete in the future.  Thus far, that quest has proved fruitless as Dish recently withdrew its offer for Clearwire. Dish is also trading at 38 times earnings, which makes it very expensive compared to peers.

Conclusion

DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV) and Time Warner Cable seem to be a bit more established than Dish. And while choosing between the two might seem difficult, DirecTV has outperformed Time Warner Cable for many years.  Confidence from billionaire investors and moves to stay ahead of industry curves, are also major positives. Overall, maybe you should take a closer look at DirecTV.

The article A Growing Entertainment Provider originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Moskowitz.

Dan Moskowitz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends DirecTV. Dan is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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