Avista vs Unitil
AVA and UTL side by side, both in combination electric and gas, and other utility. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How AVA and UTL compare
Avista is the larger company, worth 3.4 times as much as Unitil ($3.4B against $1.0B).
On earnings, Avista is cheaper: it trades at 13.7× trailing earnings, against 18.1× for Unitil.
Unitil grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (21.1% versus −1.4% for Avista).
Avista keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 12.8% compared with 9.1% at Unitil.
Both pay dividends: Avista yields 4.8% and Unitil 2.6%.
Avista scores higher on the StockData Score (20 against 10 for Unitil), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | AVA | UTL |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $3.4B | $1.0B |
| Share price | $40.91 | $55.76 |
| Change, 1 year | −1.8% | 15.6% |
| Change, 5 years | 5.4% | 35.1% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.24 | 0.25 |
| Employees | 1,929 | 595 |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 20 (better) | 10 |
| Valuation score | 6 (better) | 3 |
| Growth score | 2 | 2 |
| Performance score | 4 (better) | 2 |
| Health score | 3 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend score | 5 (better) | 3 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 13.7× (better) | 18.1× |
| P/S | 1.8× | 1.7× (better) |
| P/B | 1.2× (better) | 1.6× |
| EV/EBITDA | 5.7× (better) | 17.7× |
| PEG | 3.49 (better) | 3.88 |
| FCF yield | −5.6% | −3.9% (better) |
| Fair value | $57.31 | $52.32 |
| Margin of safety | 28.6% (better) | −6.6% |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | −1.4% | 21.1% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 8.2% (better) | 5.1% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 30.7% (better) | 18.4% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 26.8% (better) | 6.6% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 4.6% | 6.7% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 18.9% (better) | 18.6% |
| Net margin | 12.8% (better) | 9.1% |
| FCF margin | −9.9% | −6.6% (better) |
| Return on equity | 9.0% (better) | 9.0% |
| Return on invested capital | 10.7% (better) | 5.7% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.12 (better) | 1.54 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.46 (better) | 8.66 |
| Current ratio | 0.96 (better) | 0.50 |
| Altman Z-score | 0.86 (better) | 0.82 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 4.8% (better) | 2.6% |
| Payout ratio | 66.4% | 61.0% |
| Years of dividend growth | 16 (better) | 11 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 3.9% (better) | 3.7% |
| Buyback yield | −2.7% | −1.7% (better) |
| Shareholder yield | 2.2% (better) | 0.81% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 89.1% | 84.2% |
| Held by insiders | 0.78% | 0.71% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$693K | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 4.6% | 3.6% |
Go deeper
- AVA stock overview
- AVA income statement
- AVA valuation and score
- UTL stock overview
- UTL income statement
- UTL valuation and score
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.