Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.48

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, NASDAQ reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.475 per share by the utilities provider on Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd.

Avista has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.3% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. Avista has a dividend payout ratio of 73.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Avista to earn $2.67 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.90 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 71.2%.

Avista Price Performance

AVA stock opened at $38.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.38 and its 200 day moving average is $35.51. Avista has a 52 week low of $30.53 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Avista will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Jason R. Thackston sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.98, for a total value of $92,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,202,071.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares in the company, valued at $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268 over the last ninety days. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho raised shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.00.

Avista Company Profile

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.