44,339 Shares in Avista Corporation $AVA Purchased by Allianz Asset Management GmbH

Key Points

• Allianz Asset Management initiated a 44,339-share Avista stake valued at approximately $1.8 million, while institutional investors overall own 85.24% of the utility’s stock.
• Analysts remain cautious, with one Buy rating and six Holds; Avista has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.25 versus its reported $37.40 share price.
• Avista exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.43 in EPS versus the $0.23 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925 per share, representing a 5.3% annualized yield.

Allianz Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 44,339 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,814,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH owned approximately 0.05% of Avista at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $605,448,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Avista by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $204,465,000 after buying an additional 45,696 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Avista by 3,930.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,841,735 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $157,165,000 after buying an additional 3,746,408 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $76,550,000 after buying an additional 7,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Avista by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $69,657,000 after acquiring an additional 257,834 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company 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 shares of Avista from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Avista news, VP Joshua D. Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total value of $174,097.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 8,334 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $310,358.16. This trade represents a 35.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.78% of the company's stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $37.40 on Thursday. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.50 and a 1 year high of $43.50. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $426.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. Avista's revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.57 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 71.12%.

Avista Company Profile

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.

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