Short Interest in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Expands By 11.0%

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the target of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, an increase of 11.0% from the October 31st total of 2,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 476,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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 on the stock.

Institutional Trading of Avista

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Avista by 46.9% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 256.6% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA opened at $38.02 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Avista has a twelve month low of $31.91 and a twelve month high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 75.70%.

About Avista

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.