Avista (NYSE:AVA) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Avista Price Performance

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 stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.89.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.48 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Research analysts expect that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.85%. Avista's payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total transaction of $89,047.50. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,539 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,886.25. This represents a 15.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the fourth quarter valued at $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% in the 4th 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Avista by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $47,016,000 after acquiring an additional 274,270 shares during the period. Finally, RWC Asset Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Avista by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. RWC Asset Management LLP now owns 538,517 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $19,726,000 after purchasing an additional 222,500 shares during the last quarter. 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.