Avista Corporation (AVA) To Go Ex-Dividend on May 19th

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of 0.4925 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, June 12th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th.

Avista has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 23 consecutive years. Avista has a dividend payout ratio of 71.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Avista to earn $2.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.97 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 72.4%.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $40.94 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.24. Avista has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $555.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AVA. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avista has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.