Unitil (UTL) Competitors

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

Does the media favor AVA or UTL?

In the previous week, Avista had 3 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 8 mentions for Avista and 5 mentions for Unitil. Avista's average media sentiment score of 1.72 beat Unitil's score of 1.06 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)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Unitil	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is AVA or UTL more profitable?

Unitil has a net margin of 9.54% compared to Avista's net margin of 9.13%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.46% beat Avista's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avista	9.13%	6.86%	2.25%
Unitil	9.54%	9.46%	2.69%

Is AVA or UTL a better dividend stock?

Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Avista pays out 88.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Unitil pays out 61.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years and Unitil has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Avista is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Avista shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.0% of Unitil shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has more risk and volatility, AVA or UTL?

Avista has a beta of 0.41, meaning that its share price is 59% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Unitil has a beta of 0.68, meaning that its share price is 32% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate AVA or UTL?

Avista presently has a consensus price target of $39.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.18%. Unitil has a consensus price target of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 19.00%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Unitil is more favorable than Avista.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avista	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Which has better earnings and valuation, AVA or UTL?

Avista has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Unitil 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	1.52	$180M	$2.22	16.39
Unitil	$494.80M	1.65	$47.10M	$2.91	15.88

Summary

Unitil beats Avista on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.