Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) vs. Avista (NYSE:AVA) Head-To-Head Review

Avista (NYSE:AVA) and Korea Electric Power (NYSE:KEP) are both utilities companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends and analyst recommendations.

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Avista	$1.94 billion	1.74	$180.00 million	$2.35	17.66
Korea Electric Power	$68.46 billion	N/A	$2.44 billion	$4.56	4.72

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

Risk and Volatility

Avista has a beta of 0.28, meaning that its stock price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Korea Electric Power has a beta of 0.86, meaning that its stock price is 14% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

85.2% of Avista shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Avista shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Korea Electric Power shares are owned 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.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Avista	9.62%	7.18%	2.35%
Korea Electric Power	8.47%	19.00%	3.34%

Dividends

Avista pays an annual dividend of $1.96 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Korea Electric Power pays an annual dividend of $0.05 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.2%. Avista pays out 83.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Korea Electric Power pays out 1.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Avista has increased its dividend for 23 consecutive years. Avista is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for Avista and Korea Electric Power, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Avista	0	4	0	0	2.00
Korea Electric Power	0	1	1	0	2.50

Avista currently has a consensus target price of $39.33, indicating a potential downside of 5.24%. Given Avista’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Avista is more favorable than Korea Electric Power.

Summary

Korea Electric Power beats Avista on 10 of the 16 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 Korea Electric Power

Korea Electric Power Corporation, an integrated electric utility company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through Transmission and Distribution, Nuclear Power Generation, Thermal Power Generation, and Others segments. It generates power from nuclear, coal, oil, liquefied natural gas, internal combustion, combined-cycle, integrated gasification combined cycle, hydro, wind, solar, fuel cell, biogas, and other sources. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a total of 770 generation units, including nuclear, thermal, hydroelectric, and internal combustion units with an installed generation capacity of 82,723 megawatts; transmission system consisted of 35,451 circuit kilometers of lines of 765 kilovolts and others, including high-voltage direct current lines, as well as 895 substations with an installed transformer capacity of 347,426 megavolt-amperes; and distribution system included 139,265 megavolt-amperes of transformer capacity and 10,084,051 units of support with a total line length of 535,241 circuit kilometers. The company provides electricity to residential, commercial, educational, industrial, agricultural, street lighting, and overnight power usage. It also provides engineering and construction services for utility plant and others; utility plant maintenance, electric power information technology, resources development, facility maintenance, electric meter reading, and security services; and engages in nuclear fuel, fly ashes recycling, utility plants construction and operation, and wood pellet utilization businesses. Korea Electric Power Corporation was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Naju-si, South Korea.