Avista (NYSE:AVA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Avista (NYSE:AVA) released its earnings results on Monday. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $426.93 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 7.65%. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. Avista updated its FY 2026 guidance to 2.520-2.720 EPS.

Here are the key takeaways from Avista’s conference call:

• Spokane wildfires caused significant infrastructure damage, with approximately 7,300 electric and 5,300 natural-gas customers still without service. The full extent and duration of distribution-system repairs remain uncertain, creating potential cost and operational risks.
• Avista said it is too early to determine wildfire cost recovery or insurance treatment; while a Washington securitization mechanism exists, management does not currently expect the event to be financially large enough to require it.
• Management said its wildfire-mitigation measures—including vegetation management, monitoring, operational changes, and public-safety power shutoffs—appear to have worked as intended, and crews repaired a key transmission line that reduced the risk of additional outages.
• Avista continues to pause negotiations on a potential 500-megawatt data-center project while regulators and stakeholders develop stronger customer protections. The company said it will proceed only if the project provides a net benefit, preserves reliability, and does not shift costs to existing customers.
• Management expects volatility in nonregulated investment results; a gain anticipated next quarter from an IPO-related investment would largely reverse at current share prices, although future fund exits could provide cash-flow benefits.

Avista Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Avista stock traded down $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.26. The stock had a trading volume of 140,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 670,367. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista has a 1 year low of $35.50 and a 1 year high of $43.50.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were issued a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $65,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $431,150.58. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in Avista by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,696 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,657,000 after purchasing an additional 257,834 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Avista by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,511,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $58,243,000 after purchasing an additional 4,506 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Avista by 105.1% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,137,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $43,829,000 after purchasing an additional 582,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 12.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,084,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,989,000 after purchasing an additional 117,385 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Avista this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Avista reported second-quarter GAAP earnings of $0.43 per diluted share, well above the $0.23 analyst consensus and up from $0.17 a year earlier. Net income increased to $35 million from $14 million. Avista Corp. Reports Q2 2026 Financial Results, Confirms 2026 Utility Earnings Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed 2026 non-GAAP utility earnings guidance of $2.52-$2.72 per share, signaling continued confidence in operating performance and cost controls. The guidance midpoint is modestly above the current consensus estimate of $2.60. Avista Corp. Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results, Reaffirms Full-Year Utility Earnings Guidance
• Positive Sentiment: First-half GAAP net income rose to $127 million from $93 million, helped by improved investment performance and general rate-case benefits.
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue was $413 million, slightly below the $426.9 million consensus, although it increased from the prior year. Avista Utilities’ second-quarter non-GAAP earnings per share were flat at $0.29, indicating that much of the GAAP improvement came from non-regulated investment gains rather than core utility growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Wildfires in the Spokane, Washington, area caused extensive damage to the power grid and service disruptions, raising concerns about repair costs, operational interruptions, liability and potential reputational damage. Avista Corporation Reports Extensive Wildfire Damage to Spokane Power Grid
• Negative Sentiment: Year-to-date electric and natural-gas revenues declined due partly to the departure of a large industrial customer, lower wholesale revenue and regulatory-related adjustments.
• Negative Sentiment: Avista disclosed continuing exposure to regulatory, wildfire, financing and investment-volatility risks. It also expects to issue additional stock and debt, while evaluating up to $100 million of extra short-term liquidity needs. Recent insider activity showed three sales and no purchases.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on Avista in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Avista currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.25.

Avista Company Profile

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.