Avista (AVA) Competitors

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

Do analysts prefer BKH or AVA?

Black Hills currently has a consensus price target of $61.25, indicating a potential upside of 2.71%. Avista has a consensus price target of $36.75, indicating a potential downside of 1.39%. Given Black Hills' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Black Hills is more favorable than Avista.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Avista	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Which has more volatility & risk, BKH or AVA?

Black Hills has a beta of 0.72, indicating that its stock price is 28% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.49, indicating that its stock price is 51% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer BKH or AVA?

In the previous week, Black Hills had 5 more articles in the media than Avista. MarketBeat recorded 10 mentions for Black Hills and 5 mentions for Avista. Avista's average media sentiment score of 0.70 beat Black Hills' score of 0.39 indicating that Avista is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Black Hills	4 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Avista	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has higher earnings and valuation, BKH or AVA?

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
Black Hills	$2.33B	1.83	$262.20M	$3.72	16.03
Avista	$1.75B	1.68	$171.18M	$2.51	14.85

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

86.7% of Black Hills shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Avista shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Black Hills shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Avista shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in BKH or AVA?

Black Hills received 137 more outperform votes than Avista when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 59.05% of users gave Black Hills an outperform vote while only 47.57% of users gave Avista an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Black Hills	Outperform Votes 372 59.05%	Underperform Votes 258 40.95%
Avista	Outperform Votes 235 47.57%	Underperform Votes 259 52.43%

Is BKH or AVA a better dividend stock?

Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.1%. Black Hills pays out 69.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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 has increased its dividend for 54 consecutive years and Avista has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years.

Is BKH or AVA 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
Black Hills	12.00%	7.43%	2.60%
Avista	10.24%	7.83%	2.56%

Summary

Black Hills beats Avista on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.