KeyCorp Has Pessimistic View of Avista FY2025 Earnings

Key Points

• KeyCorp has revised its FY2025 EPS estimate for Avista to $2.55, down from $2.62, while the consensus estimate is currently $2.30 per share.
• Avista reported disappointing earnings of $0.17 per share in its last quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $0.28.
• The company has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.49 per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.2%.

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at KeyCorp cut their FY2025 EPS estimates for Avista in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, October 15th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.55 per share for the year, down from their prior estimate of $2.62. The consensus estimate for Avista's current full-year earnings is $2.30 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Avista's FY2026 earnings at $2.76 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $2.89 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $3.04 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $3.19 EPS.

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Avista in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.00.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $37.98 on Thursday. Avista has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.26. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a net margin of 9.13% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $416.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 earnings per share.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. Avista's payout ratio is 88.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox bought 3,671 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $35.55 per share, with a total value of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $355,108.95. This trade represents a 58.10% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $50,196.24. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.96% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 2.0% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,042 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 0.6% in the second quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,883,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 3.7% in the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 8,226 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $312,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Avista by 0.3% in the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 85,589 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,236,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 5.5% during the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 5,934 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.