Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus is “Hold”: Six of seven analysts rate Avista neutral, while one recommends buying; the average 12-month price target is $40, below the reported share price of $40.95.
• Avista beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $1.10 versus the $1.04 consensus, but revenue fell 8% year over year to $570 million and missed estimates.
• Income remains a key attraction: The company pays an annualized dividend of $1.97 per share, yielding approximately 4.8%, while institutional investors own 85.24% of outstanding shares.

Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on AVA shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price target on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Avista from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Avista Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $40.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.98. Avista has a 52-week low of $35.50 and a 52-week high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $570.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 10.75%.The firm's revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.98 earnings per share. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Avista will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.49%.

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $65,281.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,521 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $431,150.58. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $421,382,000 after purchasing an additional 98,220 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Avista by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $204,465,000 after buying an additional 45,696 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avista by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $76,550,000 after buying an additional 7,793 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Avista by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $69,657,000 after acquiring an additional 257,834 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Avista by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $60,860,000 after acquiring an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company's stock.

About Avista

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.