Avista (AVA) Competitors

Avista (NYSE:AVA) and Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, community ranking, earnings, media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends and risk.

Is AVA or BKH more profitable?

Black Hills has a net margin of 12.00% compared to Avista's net margin of 10.24%. Avista's return on equity of 7.83% beat Black Hills' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avista	10.24%	7.83%	2.56%
Black Hills	12.00%	7.43%	2.60%

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, AVA or BKH?

Black Hills has higher revenue and earnings than Avista. Avista is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Black Hills, 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
Avista	$1.75B	1.74	$171.18M	$2.51	15.35
Black Hills	$2.12B	2.11	$262.20M	$3.72	16.78

Do analysts rate AVA or BKH?

Avista presently has a consensus price target of $35.67, indicating a potential downside of 7.42%. Black Hills has a consensus price target of $60.25, indicating a potential downside of 3.48%. Given Black Hills' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Black Hills is more favorable than Avista.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avista	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.67
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Does the MarketBeat Community favor AVA or BKH?

Black Hills received 137 more outperform votes than Avista when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.14% of users gave Black Hills an outperform vote while only 47.67% of users gave Avista an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Avista	Outperform Votes 235 47.67%	Underperform Votes 258 52.33%
Black Hills	Outperform Votes 372 59.14%	Underperform Votes 257 40.86%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of AVA or BKH?

85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Black Hills shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Avista shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Black Hills shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media favor AVA or BKH?

In the previous week, Avista had 2 more articles in the media than Black Hills. MarketBeat recorded 12 mentions for Avista and 10 mentions for Black Hills. Avista's average media sentiment score of 1.18 beat Black Hills' score of 0.88 indicating that Avista is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Avista	8 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Black Hills	6 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AVA or BKH a better dividend stock?

Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Avista pays out 75.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Black Hills pays out 69.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Black Hills has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility & risk, AVA or BKH?

Avista has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Black Hills has a beta of 0.69, indicating that its share price is 31% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Black Hills beats Avista on 15 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.