HighTower Advisors LLC Acquires 162,300 Shares of Avista Corporation $AVA

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 698.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 185,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 162,300 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Avista were worth $7,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Avista by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AVA shares. Wall Street Zen raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Avista from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total transaction of $71,038.24. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 8,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $337,552.18. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $65,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,521 shares in the company, valued at $431,150.58. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,916 shares of company stock valued at $158,408 over the last 90 days. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Avista Price Performance

AVA opened at $41.56 on Wednesday. Avista Corporation has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $43.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.39. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.24.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.06. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 10.75%.The business had revenue of $570.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

About Avista

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.