Sectors & Industries UtilitiesUtilities - Diversified
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.

Industry: Utilities - Diversified

Value Growth Financials Momentum Sentiment Forecast Dividends Due Diligence

Utilities - Diversified is Zen Rated C and is the 66th ranked industry out of 145 stock market industries

Ticker	Company	Price	1d %	1w %	1m %	3m %	6m %	1y %	3y %	5y %	10y %	52-week High	52-week Low	% off 52-week High	% off 52-week Low	Beta	Volume	Vol 1d %
UTL	UNITIL CORP	$49.12	-0.49%	1.09%	-1.27%	3.50%	-5.45%	-6.15%	-7.74%	13.52%	37.71%	$59.99	$44.61	18.12%	10.11%	0.36	35,400	-20.09%
AVA	AVISTA CORP	$39.22	0.36%	0.69%	1.11%	6.46%	3.05%	10.95%	-8.54%	-1.78%	12.83%	$43.09	$35.48	8.98%	10.56%	0.34	510,000	-9.25%
AES	AES CORP	$13.97	-0.50%	-6.24%	0.79%	-3.25%	11.05%	19.50%	-49.86%	-48.03%	61.69%	$15.51	$9.46	9.93%	47.67%	1.06	7,599,000	-7.66%
BIP	BROOKFIELD INFRASTRUCTURE PARTNERS LP	$34.54	0.99%	0.32%	1.32%	-0.43%	6.64%	10.71%	0.03%	2.33%	131.56%	$36.58	$25.72	5.58%	34.29%	0.75	349,000	5.76%
OTTR	OTTER TAIL CORP	$85.24	0.40%	4.08%	1.03%	12.04%	8.24%	12.32%	35.32%	99.77%	223.00%	$86.86	$71.79	1.86%	18.74%	0.60	147,000	-6.37%
SRE	SEMPRA	$90.29	1.34%	2.95%	1.92%	-0.97%	21.11%	17.35%	12.28%	49.05%	100.11%	$95.72	$61.90	5.67%	45.86%	0.58	2,173,000	2.65%
BKH	BLACK HILLS CORP	$70.73	0.18%	1.93%	-1.86%	17.80%	23.76%	26.39%	-2.82%	16.85%	52.86%	$74.02	$54.92	4.44%	28.79%	0.45	811,000	55.96%
MNTK	MONTAUK RENEWABLES INC	$1.44	-5.26%	-9.43%	-23.40%	-31.26%	-33.02%	-63.73%	-87.52%	N/A	N/A	$4.71	$1.44	69.43%	0.00%	1.35	112,000	13.13%
NWE	NORTHWESTERN ENERGY GROUP INC	$66.38	0.79%	2.17%	-0.35%	15.79%	26.37%	28.82%	13.28%	13.28%	23.64%	$69.23	$50.46	4.12%	31.55%	0.38	307,000	-29.26%
ELP	ENERGY CO OF PARANA	$9.27	-6.27%	-5.60%	-10.17%	-5.02%	0.98%	57.39%	34.35%	26.47%	197.12%	$11.23	$5.92	17.45%	56.59%	0.48	756,000	-2.07%
CIG	ENERGY CO OF MINAS GERAIS	$1.96	-1.51%	-3.92%	-4.85%	1.03%	4.26%	13.95%	15.29%	30.06%	231.64%	$2.30	$1.59	14.78%	23.27%	0.55	3,968,000	197.01%

Diversified Utility Stocks FAQ

What are the best diversified utility stocks to buy right now in Jan 2026?

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:

1. Unitil (NYSE:UTL)

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) is the #1 top diversified utility stock out of 11 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: A, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Unitil (NYSE:UTL) has a Due Diligence Score of 34, which is -5 points lower than the diversified utility industry average of 39.

UTL passed 11 out of 38 due diligence checks and has average fundamentals. Unitil has seen its stock lose -6.15% over the past year, underperforming other diversified utility stocks by -21 percentage points.

2. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

Avista (NYSE:AVA) is the #2 top diversified utility stock out of 11 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 Avista (NYSE:AVA) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) has a Due Diligence Score of 45, which is 6 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 39.

AVA passed 15 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Avista has seen its stock return 10.95% over the past year, underperforming other diversified utility stocks by -4 percentage points.

Avista has an average 1 year price target of $39.50, an upside of 0.71% from Avista's current stock price of $39.22.

Avista stock has a consensus Hold recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 2 analysts covering Avista, 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.

3. Aes (NYSE:AES)

Aes (NYSE:AES) is the #3 top diversified utility stock out of 11 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 Aes (NYSE:AES) is: Value: B, Growth: C, Momentum: C, Sentiment: C, Safety: C, Financials: C, and AI: C.

Aes (NYSE:AES) has a Due Diligence Score of 51, which is 12 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 39.

AES passed 18 out of 38 due diligence checks and has strong fundamentals. Aes has seen its stock return 19.5% over the past year, overperforming other diversified utility stocks by 5 percentage points.

Aes has an average 1 year price target of $16.63, an upside of 19.01% from Aes's current stock price of $13.97.

Aes stock has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation according to Wall Street analysts. Of the 8 analysts covering Aes, 62.5% have issued a Strong Buy rating, 12.5% have issued a Buy, 25% have issued a hold, while 0% have issued a Sell rating, and 0% have issued a Strong Sell.

What are the diversified utility stocks with highest dividends?

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:

1. Energy Co Of Parana (NYSE:ELP)

Energy Co Of Parana (NYSE:ELP) has an annual dividend yield of N/A, which is N/A percentage points lower than the diversified utility industry average of 3.06%. Energy Co Of Parana's dividend payout is not stable, having dropped more than 10% seven times in the last 10 years. Energy Co Of Parana's dividend has not shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Energy Co Of Parana's dividend payout ratio of 39.1% indicates that its dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

2. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

Avista (NYSE:AVA) has an annual dividend yield of 5%, which is 2 percentage points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 3.06%. 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 82.4% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

3. Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE)

Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE) has an annual dividend yield of 3.98%, which is 1 percentage points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 3.06%. Northwestern Energy Group's dividend payout is stable, having never dropped by more than 10% in the last 10 years. Northwestern Energy Group's dividend has shown consistent growth over the last 10 years.

Northwestern Energy Group's dividend payout ratio of 74.3% indicates that its high dividend yield is sustainable for the long-term.

Why are diversified utility stocks up?

Diversified utility stocks were up 0.35% in the last day, and up 1.73% over the last week.

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

What are the most undervalued diversified utility stocks?

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:

1. Aes (NYSE:AES)

Aes (NYSE:AES) is the most undervalued diversified utility stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Aes has a valuation score of 57, which is 18 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 39. It passed 4 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Aes's stock has gained 19.5% in the past year. It has overperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by 5 percentage points.

2. Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR)

Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR) is the second most undervalued diversified utility stock based on its Valuation Rating of B. Valuation is one of 7 Component Grades used to calculate the overall Zen Rating.

Otter Tail has a valuation score of 29, which is -10 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 39. It passed 2 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks. Although this number is below the industry average, our proven quant model rates OTTR a Valuation Rating of "B".

Otter Tail's stock has gained 12.32% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by -3 percentage points.

3. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

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

Avista has a valuation score of 43, which is 4 points higher than the diversified utility industry average of 39. It passed 3 out of 7 valuation due diligence checks.

Avista's stock has gained 10.95% in the past year. It has underperformed other stocks in the diversified utility industry by -4 percentage points.

Are diversified utility stocks a good buy now?

66.67% of diversified utility stocks rated by analysts are a buy right now. On average, analysts expect diversified utility stocks to rise by 2.63% 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).

What is the average p/e ratio of the utilities - diversified industry?

The average P/E ratio of the utilities - diversified industry is 25.74x.

WallStreetZen does not provide financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security.

Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes and is not advice. WallStreetZen does not bear any responsibility for any losses or damage that may occur as a result of reliance on this data.

Diversified Utility Stocks FAQ

1. Unitil (NYSE:UTL)

2. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

3. Aes (NYSE:AES)

1. Energy Co Of Parana (NYSE:ELP)

2. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

3. Northwestern Energy Group (NASDAQ:NWE)

1. Aes (NYSE:AES)

2. Otter Tail (NASDAQ:OTTR)

3. Avista (NYSE:AVA)

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