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

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report)'s stock price 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. The stock had previously closed at $41.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Avista Trading Up 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $487.48 million. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,253,280 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,908,000 after purchasing an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 44.0% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,744 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,610,000 after buying an additional 147,007 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $375,855,000 after acquiring an additional 327,535 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth $561,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,007,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.