Head to Head Contrast: Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) and Avista (NYSE:AVA)

Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) and Avista (NYSE:AVA) are both mid-cap utilities companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, risk, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Portland General Electric has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.24, indicating that its stock price is 76% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Portland General Electric 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Portland General Electric and Avista, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Portland General Electric	1	8	1	0	2.00
Avista	1	5	1	0	2.00

Portland General Electric currently has a consensus target price of $51.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.71%. Avista has a consensus target price of $40.00, indicating a potential downside of 2.27%. Given Portland General Electric’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Portland General Electric is more favorable than Avista.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Portland General Electric and Avista”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Portland General Electric	$3.58 billion	1.61	$306.00 million	$2.24	22.17
Avista	$1.96 billion	1.72	$193.00 million	$2.51	16.31

Portland General Electric has higher revenue and earnings than Avista. Avista is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Portland General Electric, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Portland General Electric pays an annual dividend of $2.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.97 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. Portland General Electric pays out 93.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. 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. Portland General Electric has raised its dividend for 2 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.

Profitability

This table compares Portland General Electric and Avista’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Portland General Electric	7.12%	7.57%	2.33%
Avista	10.75%	7.65%	2.50%

Summary

Avista beats Portland General Electric on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric Company, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, wholesale purchase, transmission, distribution, and retail sale of electricity in the state of Oregon. It operates six thermal plants, three wind farms, and seven hydroelectric facilities. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned an electric transmission system consisting of 1,254 circuit miles, including 287 circuit miles of 500 kilovolt line, 413 circuit miles of 230 kilovolt line, and 554 miles of 115 kilovolt line; and served 934 thousand retail customers in 51 cities. It also has 28,868 circuit miles of distribution lines. Portland General Electric Company was founded in 1889 and is headquartered in Portland, Oregon.

About Avista

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. This segment also engages in the supply of electricity to customers in Montana; and wholesale purchase and sale of electricity and natural gas. The AEL&P segment offers electric services in Juneau, Alaska. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, thermal, wind, and solar generation facilities. As of December 31, 2023, it supplied retail electric services to approximately 416,000 customers; and retail natural gas services to approximately 381,000 customers. The company also operates five hydroelectric generation facilities with capacity of 102.7 MW; and four diesel generating facilities with a capacity of 107.5 MW. It also engages in venture fund investments, real estate investments, and other investments. Avista Corporation was incorporated in 1889 and is headquartered in Spokane, Washington.