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Best Diversified Utility Stocks to Buy Now (2026)

Top diversified utility stocks in 2026 ranked by overall Zen Rating. "A" Rated stocks have returned an average of +32.52% per year, and are the best diversified utility stocks to buy now. Learn More.

According to Zen Ratings, our proprietary rating system that evaluates 115 factors proven to drive growth in stocks and assigns each stock in our system an overall letter grade as well as 7 individual Component Grades for Value, Growth, Momentum, Sentiment, Safety, Financials, and proprietary AI algorithms, the 3 best diversified utility stocks to buy right now are:

Montauk Renewables (NASDAQ:MNTK) is the #1 top diversified utility stock out of 10 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Montauk Renewables (NASDAQ:MNTK) is: Value: C, Growth: B, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: D, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Montauk Renewables (NASDAQ:MNTK) has a Due Diligence Score of 33, which is -8 points lower than the diversified utility industry average of 41.

MNTK passed 11 out of 33 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Montauk Renewables has seen its stock lose -21.4% over the past year, underperforming other diversified utility stocks by -37 percentage points.

Montauk Renewables has an average 1 year price target of $1.80, an upside of 6.51% from Montauk Renewables's current stock price of $1.69.

Montauk Renewables stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Montauk Renewables, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) is the #2 top diversified utility stock out of 10 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Unitil (NYSE:UTL) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) has a Due Diligence Score of 37, which is -4 points lower than the diversified utility industry average of 41.

UTL passed 13 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Unitil has seen its stock lose -2.87% over the past year, underperforming other diversified utility stocks by -18 percentage points.

Unitil has an average 1 year price target of $55.67, an upside of 8.03% from Unitil's current stock price of $51.53.

Unitil stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 3 analysts covering Unitil, 0% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 100% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE) is the #3 top diversified utility stock out of 10 with a Zen Rating of C. Stocks with a rating of C have had an average return of +7.53% per year. Learn more.

The Component Grade breakdown for Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE) is: Value: C, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: D, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE) has a Due Diligence Score of 31, which is -10 points lower than the diversified utility industry average of 41.

NWE passed 10 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Northwestern Energy Group has seen its stock return 24.91% over the past year, overperforming other diversified utility stocks by 9 percentage points.

Northwestern Energy Group has an average 1 year price target of $66.92, an upside of 1.88% from Northwestern Energy Group's current stock price of $65.68.

Northwestern Energy Group stock has a consensus Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 6 analysts covering Northwestern Energy Group, 50% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 0% have issued a Buy, 33.33% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 16.67% have issued a Strong Sell.

Out of 9 diversified utility stocks that have issued dividends in the past year, the 3 diversified utility stocks with the highest dividend yields are:

Aes (NYSE:AES) has an annual dividend yield of 4.8%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 3.7%. Aes's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Aes's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Aes's dividend payout ratio of 37.6% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) has an annual dividend yield of 4.67%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 3.7%. Avista's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Avista's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Avista's dividend payout ratio of 78.2% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) has an annual dividend yield of 4.07%, which is the same as the diversified utility industry average of 3.7%. Black Hills's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Black Hills's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Black Hills's dividend payout ratio of 70.6% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Diversified utility stocks were down -0.95% in the last day, and down -0.35% over the last week.

We couldn't find a catalyst for why diversified utility stocks are down.

Based on the Valuation rating, one of the 7 components of a stocks overall Zen Ratings grade, which evaluates factors including estimated earnings yield, earnings before interest and taxes/enterprise value, cash flow yield, free cash flow to price, and price-to-earnings growth (PEG ratio), the 3 most undervalued diversified utility stocks right now are:

Black Hills (NYSE:BKH) is the most undervalued diversified utility stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Black Hills has a valuation score of 29, which is -4 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 33. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Black Hills's stock has gained 18.1% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by 3 percentage points.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) is the second most undervalued diversified utility stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Unitil has a valuation score of 29, which is -4 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 33. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Unitil's stock has dropped -2.87% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by -18 percentage points.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) is the third most undervalued diversified utility stock based on its Valuation Rating of C. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Avista has a valuation score of 29, which is -4 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 33. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Avista's stock has gained 12.73% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by -3 percentage points.

50% of diversified utility stocks rated by analysts are a hold right now. On average, analysts expect diversified utility stocks to rise by 9.85% over the next year.

0% of diversified utility stocks have a Zen Rating of A (Strong Buy), 0% of diversified utility stocks are rated B (Buy), 87.5% are rated C (Hold), 12.5% are rated D (Sell), and 0% are rated F (Strong Sell).