Avista (AVA) Competitors

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

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

79.9% of Alliant Energy shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Alliant Energy shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Avista shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Do analysts rate LNT or AVA?

Alliant Energy currently has a consensus price target of $64.80, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Avista has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.37%. Given Avista's higher probable upside, analysts plainly 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)	4 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.30
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 5.2%. Alliant Energy pays out 62.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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. 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.

Does the media favor LNT or AVA?

In the previous week, Alliant Energy and Alliant Energy both had 22 articles in the media. Alliant Energy's average media sentiment score of 1.39 beat Avista's score of 0.50 indicating that Alliant Energy is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Alliant Energy	13 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Avista	5 Very Positive mention(s)	5 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Which has more risk and volatility, LNT or AVA?

Alliant Energy has a beta of 0.53, suggesting that its stock price is 47% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.4, suggesting that its stock price is 60% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, 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	$3.24	20.00
Avista	$1.94B	1.58	$180M	$2.22	17.05

Is LNT or AVA more profitable?

Alliant Energy has a net margin of 20.07% compared to Avista's net margin of 9.13%. Alliant Energy's return on equity of 12.25% beat Avista's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alliant Energy	20.07%	12.25%	3.75%
Avista	9.13%	6.86%	2.25%

Summary

Alliant Energy beats Avista on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.