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

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Hold” consensus on Avista, with six holds and one buy among seven analysts. The average 12-month price target is $39.25, versus a recent share price of $36.20.
• Avista reported quarterly EPS of $0.43, exceeding the $0.23 consensus estimate, while revenue of $413 million fell short of expectations. The company expects full-year EPS of approximately $2.55.
• The utility recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.4925, equivalent to an annualized $1.97 and a 5.4% yield; institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s shares.

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

AVA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avista from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Avista from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Joshua Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $174,097.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at $310,358.16. The trade was a 35.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bayban purchased a new stake in Avista during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 171.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Avista by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,020 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Avista Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of AVA stock opened at $36.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.25. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $36.14 and a fifty-two week high of $43.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $426.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. Avista's revenue for the quarter was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Avista will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 18th. Avista's payout ratio is presently 71.12%.

About Avista

Avista Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Spokane, Washington, operating primarily through its regulated utility businesses. Its principal subsidiary, Avista Utilities, provides electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Avista Utilities operates electric and natural gas systems in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, as well as parts of Oregon. Through Alaska Electric Light & Power Company, Avista also provides electric service in Juneau, Alaska.

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