Alternus Clean Energy (NASDAQ:ALCE) & Avista (NYSE:AVA) Financial Review

Alternus Clean Energy (NASDAQ:ALCE) and Avista (NYSE:AVA) are both oils/energy companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Alternus Clean Energy and Avista’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Alternus Clean Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A
Avista	9.96%	7.65%	2.49%

Risk and Volatility

Alternus Clean Energy has a beta of -0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 160% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Avista has a beta of 0.46, suggesting that its stock price is 54% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Alternus Clean Energy and Avista, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Alternus Clean Energy	0	0	0	0	N/A
Avista	0	3	0	0	2.00

Avista has a consensus price target of $35.00, suggesting a potential downside of 2.97%. Given Avista’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Avista is more favorable than Alternus Clean Energy.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

85.2% of Avista shares are held by institutional investors. 24.3% of Alternus Clean Energy shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Avista shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Alternus Clean Energy and Avista’s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Alternus Clean Energy	$20.08 million	1.62	-$69.46 million	N/A	N/A
Avista	$1.89 billion	1.50	$171.18 million	$2.41	14.97

Avista has higher revenue and earnings than Alternus Clean Energy.

Summary

Avista beats Alternus Clean Energy on 8 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Alternus Clean Energy

Alternus Energy Group Plc operates as an international vertically integrated independent power producer. It owns, develops, installs, and operates midsized utility scale solar parks. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

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.