Avista (NYSE:AVA) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Avista (NYSE:AVA) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Avista updated its FY24 guidance to $2.36-2.56 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance to 2.360-2.560 EPS.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA remained flat at $38.04 on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 539,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 542,729. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $30.53 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.27.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.99%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AVA. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upgraded Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $401,387.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock worth $215,268. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Avista Company Profile

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.