Avista Corporation (AVA) vs Unitil Corporation (UTL)

Avista Corporation and Unitil Corporation are both Utilities Diversified companies. Avista Corporation is the larger, with a market value of $2.9B against $927.2M — 3.2× the size. Avista Corporation trades at the lower P/E: 12.7× against 16.1×. Unitil Corporation grew revenue faster over the last twelve months: 20.8% against −1.84%. Avista Corporation has the higher net margin (11.8% vs 9.44%) and the lower return on invested capital (3.72% vs 5.21%). Both pay a dividend; Avista Corporation yields more (5.59% vs 3.37%). Across the 22 metrics below, Avista Corporation leads on 12 and Unitil Corporation on 10.

Valuation

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
P/E 12.68 16.09 16.79
P/S 1.52 1.53 1.52
P/B 1.03 1.42 1.09
Price to free cash flow n/m n/m —
EV/EBITDA 9.57 7.90 9.57
EV/Sales 3.21 2.72 3.09
Earnings yield 7.89% 6.22% 5.97%
Free cash flow yield (3.57%) (4.99%) (7.56%)

Profitability

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
Gross margin 100.00% 56.36% 56.36%
Operating margin 18.76% 18.94% 18.94%
Net margin 11.83% 9.44% 11.83%
Free cash flow margin (5.42%) (7.63%) (7.63%)
Return on equity 8.31% 9.57% 8.31%
Return on assets 2.73% 2.74% 2.42%
Return on invested capital 3.72% 5.21% 3.72%

Growth

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
Revenue growth (TTM) (1.84%) 20.80% 8.49%
EPS growth (last fiscal year) 3.93% 1.37% —
Revenue growth, 5-year CAGR 8.24% 5.07% 5.07%
Net income growth, 5-year CAGR 8.31% 9.16% 9.16%

Health

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
Debt to equity 1.16 1.12 1.16
Current ratio 1.10 0.49 0.89
Net debt to EBITDA 4.92 3.45 6.19

Dividend

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
Dividend yield 5.59% 3.37% 4.20%
Payout ratio 0.93 0.59 —

Size

Metric AVA UTL Utilities Diversified median
Market cap 2.94b 927.15m 9.78b

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