Avista (NYSE:AVA) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.09 and last traded at $42.35, with a volume of 1076541 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.43.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.89.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $517.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% during the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

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.