Unitil (UTL) Competitors $51.69 -0.08 (-0.15%) As of 03:58 PM Eastern Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestTrendsBuy This Stock UTL vs. AVA, BKH, CPK, NJR, NWE, OGE, OGS, POR, SR, and OTTRShould you be buying Unitil stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Unitil include Avista (AVA), Black Hills (BKH), Chesapeake Utilities (CPK), NewJersey Resources (NJR), NorthWestern Energy Group (NWE), OGE Energy (OGE), ONE Gas (OGS), Portland General Electric (POR), Spire (SR), and Otter Tail (OTTR). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector. Unitil vs. Its Competitors Avista Black Hills Chesapeake Utilities NewJersey Resources NorthWestern Energy Group OGE Energy ONE Gas Portland General Electric Spire Otter Tail Unitil (NYSE:UTL) and Avista (NYSE:AVA) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, earnings, dividends and valuation. Which has preferable valuation and earnings, UTL or AVA? Avista has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Avista is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Unitil, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioUnitil$486.90M1.73$47.10M$2.9317.64Avista$1.94B1.58$180M$2.3416.24 Which has more volatility & risk, UTL or AVA? Unitil has a beta of 0.63, indicating that its share price is 37% 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. Is UTL or AVA a better dividend stock? Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Unitil pays out 61.4% 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. Unitil has increased its dividend for 12 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. Do analysts prefer UTL or AVA? Unitil presently has a consensus price target of $55.00, indicating a potential upside of 6.40%. Avista has a consensus price target of $38.00, indicating a potential upside of 0.00%. Given Unitil's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Unitil is more favorable than Avista.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Unitil 0 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.00Avista 1 Sell rating(s) 1 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 1.50 Do institutionals and insiders believe in UTL or AVA? 76.8% of Unitil shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Avista shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.0% of Unitil shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of Avista shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term. Is UTL or AVA more profitable? Unitil has a net margin of 9.74% compared to Avista's net margin of 9.63%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.49% beat Avista's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Unitil9.74% 9.49% 2.74% Avista 9.63%7.28%2.39% Does the media prefer UTL or AVA? In the previous week, Unitil and Unitil both had 1 articles in the media. Avista's average media sentiment score of 0.88 beat Unitil's score of 0.00 indicating that Avista is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Unitil 0 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral Avista 0 Very Positive mention(s) 0 Positive mention(s) 1 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive SummaryUnitil beats Avista on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Unitil News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for UTL and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding UTL and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart UTL vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricUnitilUTIL IndustryUtilities SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$840.48M$24.33B$15.71B$20.45BDividend Yield3.43%3.69%5.58%3.72%P/E Ratio17.6434.8320.0927.80Price / Sales1.733.9729.2349.81Price / Cash6.869.0119.3118.22Price / Book1.632.202.144.58Net Income$47.10M$1.43B$751.09M$982.91M7 Day Performance-1.85%-1.53%-0.51%1.31%1 Month Performance-2.04%1.71%2.29%4.85%1 Year Performance0.49%22.20%16.45%14.09% Unitil Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)UTLUnitil2.0493 of 5 stars$51.69-0.2%$55.00+6.4%+1.3%$840.48M$486.90M17.64520AVAAvista3.8963 of 5 stars$38.13-0.6%$38.00-0.3%+12.9%$3.09B$1.94B16.291,950BKHBlack Hills4.2501 of 5 stars$56.42-0.9%$66.00+17.0%+5.0%$4.13B$2.13B14.392,841CPKChesapeake Utilities3.9571 of 5 stars$121.61-1.2%$126.50+4.0%+14.3%$2.87B$787.20M22.481,200News CoverageNJRNewJersey Resources4.0551 of 5 stars$45.15-0.5%$51.29+13.6%+6.8%$4.55B$1.80B10.961,372NWENorthWestern Energy Group3.3917 of 5 stars$51.97-1.0%$60.00+15.5%+6.1%$3.19B$1.51B14.241,573Positive NewsOGEOGE Energy3.9854 of 5 stars$43.99-1.1%$46.80+6.4%+23.8%$8.96B$2.99B18.182,291Positive NewsOGSONE Gas2.6244 of 5 stars$72.70-0.3%$77.64+6.8%+16.1%$4.37B$2.08B17.563,900PORPortland General Electric3.7385 of 5 stars$40.90-0.8%$45.60+11.5%-3.7%$4.51B$3.44B14.402,915SRSpire3.4293 of 5 stars$73.93-0.2%$77.40+4.7%+23.7%$4.37B$2.43B18.213,475OTTROtter Tail1.3571 of 5 stars$78.83-1.1%$83.00+5.3%-8.1%$3.34B$1.32B11.232,133 Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Avista Alternatives Black Hills Alternatives Chesapeake Utilities Alternatives NewJersey Resources Alternatives NorthWestern Energy Group Alternatives OGE Energy Alternatives ONE Gas Alternatives Portland General Electric Alternatives Spire Alternatives Otter Tail Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:UTL) was last updated on 7/8/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersMarket Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stockstock Market Panic: Trump Just Dropped a Bomb on Your Stocks The market is in freefall—and Trump's new tarif...American Alternative | SponsoredThis Signal Only Flashes Once Every 4 Years – And It Just TriggeredThis same signal has appeared twice before in the past 8 years — both times, it kicked off major moves in cryp...Crypto Swap Profits | SponsoredINVESTOR ALERT: Tiny “$3 AI Wonder Stock” on the Verge of Blasting OffRight now, we’re witnessing a monumental shift in the world.Traders Agency | SponsoredEveryone’s watching Nvidia right now. 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