Contrasting SolarBank (NASDAQ:SUUN) and Avista (NYSE:AVA)

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

85.2% of Avista shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Avista shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Avista and SolarBank, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avista	1	2	0	0	1.67
SolarBank	0	0	1	0	3.00

Avista presently has a consensus price target of $37.33, suggesting a potential downside of 5.85%. SolarBank has a consensus price target of $6.00, suggesting a potential upside of 33.63%. Given SolarBank’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SolarBank is more favorable than Avista.

Profitability

This table compares Avista and SolarBank’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avista	10.24%	7.83%	2.56%
SolarBank	-10.64%	-15.19%	-6.41%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Avista and SolarBank”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avista	$1.94 billion	1.64	$171.18 million	$2.27	17.47
SolarBank	$52.15 million	2.78	-$2.56 million	($0.22)	-20.41

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

Summary

Avista beats SolarBank on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About SolarBank

SolarBank Corporation operates as an independent renewable and clean energy project developer and asset operator in Canada and the United States. The company engages in the site origination, development, financing, engineering, procurement, construction, operation, maintenance, and asset management of solar photovoltaic power generation projects. It offers solar energy solutions in the areas of behind-the-meter solar power plants, electricity grid connected community solar gardens, and utility scale solar farms. The company was formerly known as Abundant Solar Energy Inc. and changed its name to SolarBank Corporation in October 2022. SolarBank Corporation was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.