Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Update

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the October 15th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 454,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 30.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,772,000 after acquiring an additional 33,431 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Avista by 0.4% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,916,000 after acquiring an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in Avista by 10.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after acquiring an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after purchasing an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Avista by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 61,466 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $38.74 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. Avista has a 1-year low of $31.91 and a 1-year high of $39.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.29.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Avista will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

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.