Avista (NYSE:AVA) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $40.92 and last traded at $41.49, with a volume of 669366 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.33. The company has a market cap of $3.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is currently 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AVA. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Avista by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 38,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 5.5% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Avista by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 22,842 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $837,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Avista by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 7,814 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in Avista by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,767 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $5,046,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.