Deutsche Bank AG Buys Shares of 91,421 Avista Corporation $AVA

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank bought 91,421 Avista shares worth approximately $3.74 million, while institutional investors collectively owned 85.24% of the utility’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with one Buy and six Hold ratings; Avista has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.25.
• Avista exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.43 versus the $0.23 consensus estimate, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.4925, equivalent to a 5.2% annualized yield.

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 91,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,740,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned approximately 0.11% of Avista as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AVA. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Avista in the second quarter valued at about $37,919,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 105.1% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,137,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,829,000 after acquiring an additional 582,742 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 37,219.7% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 541,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $20,855,000 after acquiring an additional 539,686 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 1,723.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 442,427 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $16,728,000 after acquiring an additional 418,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 8.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $197,032,000 after acquiring an additional 398,446 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avista from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.25.

Avista Stock Down 0.4%

AVA opened at $37.77 on Wednesday. Avista Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $35.50 and a fifty-two week high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Avista's 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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