Unitil (UTL) Competitors

$51.81 +0.24 (+0.46%)

Closing price 03:59 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$51.86 +0.05 (+0.10%)

As of 05:36 PM Eastern

UTL vs. NWE, YORW, AVA, BKH, and NJR

Should you buy Unitil stock or one of its competitors? MarketBeat compares Unitil with other companies and stocks that may be similar based on industry, sector, market capitalization, business model, investor interest, or shared news coverage. Companies and stocks commonly compared with Unitil include NorthWestern (NWE), York Water (YORW), Avista (AVA), Black Hills (BKH), and NewJersey Resources (NJR). These companies are all part of the "utilities" sector.

How does Unitil compare to NorthWestern?

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

NorthWestern has a net margin of 10.21% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.60%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.89% beat NorthWestern's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%
NorthWestern	10.21%	7.80%	2.69%

76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.1% of NorthWestern shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.9% of NorthWestern shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

In the previous week, NorthWestern had 1 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 2 mentions for NorthWestern and 1 mentions for Unitil. Unitil's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat NorthWestern's score of 0.27 indicating that Unitil is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Unitil	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
NorthWestern	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

NorthWestern has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Unitil is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NorthWestern, 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
Unitil	$536M	1.74	$50.20M	$3.16	16.39
NorthWestern	$1.61B	2.75	$181.09M	$2.72	26.44

Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. NorthWestern pays an annual dividend of $2.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Unitil pays out 60.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NorthWestern pays out 98.5% 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 NorthWestern has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. NorthWestern is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Unitil presently has a consensus target price of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.06%. NorthWestern has a consensus target price of $68.30, indicating a potential downside of 5.05%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Unitil is more favorable than NorthWestern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
NorthWestern	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Unitil has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the broader market. Comparatively, NorthWestern has a beta of 0.35, indicating that its stock price is 65% less volatile than the broader market.

Summary

NorthWestern beats Unitil on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.

How does Unitil compare to York Water?

York Water (NASDAQ:YORW) and Unitil (NYSE:UTL) are both small-cap utilities companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, institutional ownership, earnings, dividends and profitability.

49.9% of York Water shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of York Water shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

York Water has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the broader market. Comparatively, Unitil has a beta of 0.33, indicating that its share price is 67% less volatile than the broader market.

Unitil has a consensus price target of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.06%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Unitil is more favorable than York Water.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
York Water	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

In the previous week, York Water and York Water both had 1 articles in the media. Unitil's average media sentiment score of 0.46 beat York Water's score of 0.00 indicating that Unitil is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
York Water	0 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Unitil	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

York Water has a net margin of 26.84% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.60%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.89% beat York Water's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
York Water	26.84%	8.89%	3.16%
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%

Unitil has higher revenue and earnings than York Water. Unitil is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than York Water, 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
York Water	$77.49M	6.25	$20.06M	$1.47	20.32
Unitil	$536M	1.74	$50.20M	$3.16	16.39

York Water pays an annual dividend of $0.91 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. York Water pays out 61.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Unitil pays out 60.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. York Water has increased its dividend for 27 consecutive years and Unitil has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years. Unitil is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Unitil beats York Water on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

How does Unitil compare to Avista?

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

In the previous week, Avista had 10 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 11 mentions for Avista and 1 mentions for Unitil. Avista's average media sentiment score of 0.77 beat Unitil's score of 0.46 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Avista	5 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Avista has a net margin of 10.75% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.60%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.89% beat Avista's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%
Avista	10.75%	7.65%	2.50%

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
Unitil	$536M	1.74	$50.20M	$3.16	16.39
Avista	$1.96B	1.74	$193M	$2.51	16.52

Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Unitil pays out 60.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista pays out 78.5% 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 raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Avista has raised its dividend for 23 consecutive years. Avista is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Avista shares are held 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.

Unitil presently has a consensus price target of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.06%. Avista has a consensus price target of $40.00, indicating a potential downside of 3.54%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Unitil is more favorable than Avista.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Avista	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Unitil has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the broader market. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.24, meaning that its share price is 76% less volatile than the broader market.

Summary

Avista beats Unitil on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

How does Unitil compare to Black Hills?

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

Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Black Hills pays an annual dividend of $2.81 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Unitil pays out 60.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Black Hills pays out 73.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Unitil has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Black Hills has raised its dividend for 55 consecutive years. Black Hills is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Black Hills has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Unitil is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Black Hills, 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
Unitil	$536M	1.74	$50.20M	$3.16	16.39
Black Hills	$2.31B	2.45	$291.60M	$3.84	19.35

Unitil has a beta of 0.33, meaning that its share price is 67% less volatile than the broader market. Comparatively, Black Hills has a beta of 0.74, meaning that its share price is 26% less volatile than the broader market.

76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.7% of Black Hills shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Black Hills shares are held 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.

Unitil presently has a consensus price target of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.06%. Black Hills has a consensus price target of $81.40, indicating a potential upside of 9.54%. Given Black Hills' stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Black Hills is more favorable than Unitil.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
Black Hills	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.83

In the previous week, Black Hills had 3 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for Black Hills and 1 mentions for Unitil. Black Hills' average media sentiment score of 1.00 beat Unitil's score of 0.46 indicating that Black Hills 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Black Hills	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Black Hills has a net margin of 12.61% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.60%. Unitil's return on equity of 9.89% beat Black Hills' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%
Black Hills	12.61%	7.77%	2.86%

Summary

Black Hills beats Unitil on 15 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.

How does Unitil compare to NewJersey Resources?

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

In the previous week, NewJersey Resources had 3 more articles in the media than Unitil. MarketBeat recorded 4 mentions for NewJersey Resources and 1 mentions for Unitil. NewJersey Resources' average media sentiment score of 0.92 beat Unitil's score of 0.46 indicating that NewJersey Resources 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)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
NewJersey Resources	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

NewJersey Resources has higher revenue and earnings than Unitil. Unitil is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than NewJersey Resources, 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
Unitil	$536M	1.74	$50.20M	$3.16	16.39
NewJersey Resources	$2.04B	2.84	$335.63M	$3.37	16.98

NewJersey Resources has a net margin of 15.67% compared to Unitil's net margin of 9.60%. NewJersey Resources' return on equity of 14.58% beat Unitil's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Unitil	9.60%	9.89%	2.89%
NewJersey Resources	15.67%	14.58%	4.72%

Unitil pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. NewJersey Resources pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Unitil pays out 60.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. NewJersey Resources pays out 56.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Unitil has increased its dividend for 12 consecutive years and NewJersey Resources has increased its dividend for 29 consecutive years.

Unitil currently has a consensus price target of $56.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.06%. NewJersey Resources has a consensus price target of $57.14, indicating a potential downside of 0.17%. Given Unitil's higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Unitil is more favorable than NewJersey Resources.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Unitil	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00
NewJersey Resources	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	4 Buy rating(s)	2 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.33

Unitil has a beta of 0.33, suggesting that its stock price is 67% less volatile than the broader market. Comparatively, NewJersey Resources has a beta of 0.51, suggesting that its stock price is 49% less volatile than the broader market.

76.8% of Unitil shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.0% of NewJersey Resources shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Unitil shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of NewJersey Resources shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

NewJersey Resources beats Unitil on 16 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.

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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

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.

Media Sentiment Over Time

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.

UTL vs. The Competition

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Metric	Unitil	UTIL Industry	Utilities Sector	NYSE Exchange
Market Cap	$927.79M	$29.12B	$19.34B	$23.05B
Dividend Yield	3.68%	3.33%	3.85%	4.09%
P/E Ratio	16.39	22.91	20.43	30.67
Price / Sales	1.74	5.33	57.75	24.49
Price / Cash	6.51	9.47	19.48	25.15
Price / Book	1.47	2.26	2.21	4.73
Net Income	$50.20M	$1.55B	$778.83M	$1.07B
7 Day Performance	3.31%	3.41%	1.75%	1.94%
1 Month Performance	0.33%	0.44%	-0.23%	0.38%
1 Year Performance	-2.56%	24.33%	20.79%	28.11%

Unitil Competitors List

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Company	MarketRank	Share Price	Analysts' Price Target	1Y Price Performance	Market Cap	Revenue	P/E Ratio	Employee Count	Indicator(s)
UTL Unitil	3.7469 of 5 stars	$51.81 +0.5%	$56.50 +9.1%	-4.6%	$927.79M	$536M	16.39	520
NWE NorthWestern	2.461 of 5 stars	$71.51 +1.0%	$68.30 -4.5%	N/A	$4.40B	$1.61B	26.29	1,667
YORW York Water	2.0652 of 5 stars	$29.56 0.0%	N/A	-10.0%	$479.09M	$77.49M	20.11	110
AVA Avista	3.3521 of 5 stars	$40.79 +0.3%	$40.00 -1.9%	+6.3%	$3.37B	$1.96B	16.25	1,929	Ex-Dividend
BKH Black Hills	3.8201 of 5 stars	$74.26 +1.1%	$81.40 +9.6%	+27.5%	$5.65B	$2.29B	19.34	2,795	Positive News Analyst Upgrade

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This page (NYSE:UTL) was last updated on 5/22/2026 by MarketBeat.com Staff.

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Unitil (UTL) Competitors