Avista (AVA) Competitors

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

Is AVA or BKH more profitable?

Black Hills has a net margin of 12.84% 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	12.84%	7.82%	2.76%

Is AVA or BKH a better dividend stock?

Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.9%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.5%. Avista pays out 86.3% 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 68.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Black Hills has increased its dividend for 55 consecutive years.

Which has higher valuation & earnings, AVA or BKH?

Black Hills has higher revenue and earnings than Avista. Black Hills is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Avista, 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	$1.94B	1.65	$171.18M	$2.27	17.62
Black Hills	$2.13B	2.02	$273.10M	$3.92	15.19

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in AVA or BKH?

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

Does the media refer more to AVA or BKH?

In the previous week, Black Hills had 9 more articles in the media than Avista. MarketBeat recorded 17 mentions for Black Hills and 8 mentions for Avista. Avista's average media sentiment score of 1.23 beat Black Hills' score of 0.60 indicating that Avista is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Avista	6 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Black Hills	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in AVA or BKH?

Black Hills received 137 more outperform votes than Avista when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 58.95% of users gave Black Hills an outperform vote while only 47.47% of users gave Avista an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Avista	Outperform Votes 235 47.47%	Underperform Votes 260 52.53%
Black Hills	Outperform Votes 372 58.95%	Underperform Votes 259 41.05%

Do analysts recommend AVA or BKH?

Avista currently has a consensus price target of $37.33, indicating a potential downside of 6.68%. Black Hills has a consensus price target of $62.33, indicating a potential upside of 4.71%. Given Black Hills' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has more volatility and risk, AVA or BKH?

Avista has a beta of 0.46, meaning that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Black Hills has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its stock price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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