Sifting through countless of stocks in the Multi-Utilities industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. It operates through two segments, Avista Utilities and Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P). The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution and transmission 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 Alaska Electric Light and Power Company segment offers electric services in Juneau, Alaska. The company generates electricity through hydroelectric, thermal, wind, and solar generation facilities. As of December 31, 2025, it supplied retail electrical services to approximately 429,000 customers; retail natural gas services to approximately 386,000 customers; and electrical energy to approximately 17,600 customers. The company also operates five hydroelectric generation facilities with a capacity of 102.7 MW; and four diesel generating facilities with a capacity of 107.5 MW. In addition, it engages in venture fund investments, real estate investments, and other investments. The company was formerly known as Washington Water Power and changed its name to Avista Corporation in January 1999. Avista Corporation was incorporated in 1889 and is headquartered in Spokane, Washington.

Black Hills Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company in the United States. The company operates through the Electric Utilities and Gas Utilities segments. The Electric Utilities segment engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity to electric utility customers in Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming; ownership and operation of 1,386 megawatts of generation capacity, and 9,478 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines; sale of excess power to other utilities and marketing companies; and ownership and operation of non-regulated power generation and mining assets. Its Gas Utilities segment is involved in the distribution of natural gas to approximately 1,138,000 natural gas utility customers in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming; ownership and operation of 4,581 miles of intrastate gas transmission pipelines; 44,840 miles of gas distribution mains and service lines; seven natural gas storage sites; and approximately 50,000 horsepower of compression and 494 miles of gathering lines. The company also provides non-regulated services to its retail customers, including Service Guard Comfort Plan, which provides home appliance repair services through on-going monthly service agreements to residential utility customers; Tech Services, which include construction and maintenance of customer-owned gas infrastructure facilities, as well as electrical system construction services; and HomeServe, which are additional home repair service plans for natural gas residential customers. In addition, the company produces electric power through wind, natural gas, and coal-fired generating plants, as well as coal at its coal mine located near Gillette, Wyoming. Black Hills Corporation was incorporated in 1941 and is headquartered in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Latest Multi-Utilities and Avista Corporation, Black Hills Corporation Stock News

As of June 18, 2026, Avista Corporation had a $3.3 billion market capitalization, compared to the Multi-Utilities median of $28.0 million. Avista Corporation’s stock is up 3.2% in 2026, down 6.3% in the previous five trading days and up 6.8% in the past year.

Currently, Avista Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 15.8. Avista Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.9 billion with a 10.7% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -7.6%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.602 per share for the current fiscal year. Avista Corporation currently has a 5.0% dividend yield.

As of June 18, 2026, Black Hills Corporation had a $5.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 69th percentile of all stocks. Black Hills Corporation’s stock is up 4.8% in 2026, down 1% in the previous five trading days and up 29.7% in the past year.

Currently, Black Hills Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 18.7. Black Hills Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.3 billion with a 12.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was -3.0%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $4.338 per share for the current fiscal year. Black Hills Corporation currently has a 3.9% dividend yield.

How We Compare Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Avista Corporation	AVA	B
Black Hills Corporation	BKH	C

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Avista Corporation has a Value Score of 74, which is Value. Black Hills Corporation has a Value Score of 49, which is Average.

The Value Stock Winner: Avista Corporation

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Avista Corporation is considered to have better value than Black Hills Corporation. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Avista Corporation could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Avista Corporation	AVA	D
Black Hills Corporation	BKH	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Avista Corporation has a Quality Score of 40, which is Weak. Black Hills Corporation has a Quality Score of 35, which is Weak.

The Quality Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation has a high enough Quality Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation is the better investment when it comes to quality.

Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
Avista Corporation	AVA	C
Black Hills Corporation	BKH	C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Avista Corporation has a Momentum Score of 42, which is Average. Black Hills Corporation has a Momentum Score of 58, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation Grades

In addition to Value, Quality and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Growth and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Growth investing builds on the idea that stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth outperform those of slower-growth companies. AAII measures growth through consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Avista Corporation or Black Hills Corporation Stock?

Overall, Avista Corporation stock has a Value Score of 74, Momentum Score of 42 and Quality Score of 40.

Black Hills Corporation stock has a Value Score of 49, Momentum Score of 58 and Quality Score of 35.

Comparing Avista Corporation and Black Hills Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.