Avista (NYSE:AVA) Shares Gap Up to $35.98

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.98, but opened at $37.87. Avista shares last traded at $37.04, with a volume of 106,377 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Guggenheim raised shares of Avista from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. StockNews.com raised Avista from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Avista Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The utilities provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by ($0.06). Avista had a net margin of 9.77% and a return on equity of 7.07%. The business had revenue of $504.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $545.78 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Avista Co. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.475 dividend. This is a boost from Avista's previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.18%. Avista's dividend payout ratio is presently 85.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Strs Ohio increased its stake in Avista by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Avista by 41,325.0% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 3,306 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 11.9% in the third quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,390 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $207,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.