Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

AVA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on 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 Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th.

Avista Price Performance

AVA stock opened at $37.62 on Tuesday. Avista has a 12 month low of $35.50 and a 12 month high of $43.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.67. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.12%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVA. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Avista by 90.7% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Bayban purchased a new stake in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter worth about $43,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.