Avista (NYSE:AVA) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 713,739 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 42% from the previous session’s volume of 502,632 shares.The stock last traded at $40.39 and had previously closed at $40.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.16 and its 200-day moving average is $37.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $517.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $487.48 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. Equities analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th were paid a $0.49 dividend. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.80%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 86.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Scott J. Kinney sold 2,298 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.75, for a total value of $89,047.50. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $485,886.25. The trade was a 15.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its position in Avista by 2,474.1% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 668 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 117.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Avista by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

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.