Avista (AVA) Competitors

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) and Avista (NYSE:AVA) are both utilities companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, media sentiment, earnings and analyst recommendations.

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

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Avista shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Avista shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has better valuation and earnings, LNT or AVA?

Alliant Energy has higher revenue and earnings than Avista. Avista is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Alliant Energy, 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
Alliant Energy	$3.98B	4.18	$690M	$2.90	22.36
Avista	$1.94B	1.55	$180M	$2.34	15.94

Does the media refer more to LNT or AVA?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy had 5 more articles in the media than Avista. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Alliant Energy and 6 mentions for Avista. Avista's average media sentiment score of 1.60 beat Alliant Energy's score of 1.30 indicating that Avista is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alliant Energy	7 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Avista	6 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Is LNT or AVA more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 18.26% compared to Avista's net margin of 9.63%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.01% beat Avista's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliant Energy	18.26%	12.01%	3.71%
Avista	9.63%	7.28%	2.39%

Do analysts prefer LNT or AVA?

Alliant Energy presently has a consensus target price of $64.23, indicating a potential downside of 0.96%. Avista has a consensus target price of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.90%. Given Avista's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Avista is more favorable than Alliant Energy.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alliant Energy	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.36
Avista	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.50

Is LNT or AVA a better dividend stock?

Alliant Energy pays an annual dividend of $2.03 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. Alliant Energy pays out 70.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista pays out 83.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alliant Energy has increased its dividend for 22 consecutive years and Avista has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years. Avista is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more volatility & risk, LNT or AVA?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.56, indicating that its share price is 44% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.4, indicating that its share price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Alliant Energy beats Avista on 13 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.