Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

Several research analysts recently commented on AVA shares. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $37.17 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.69. Avista has a 12 month low of $35.50 and a 12 month high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The business had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.3%. Avista’s payout ratio is 71.12%.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 5.3% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 65,494 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,741,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Avista by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 69,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,924,000 after buying an additional 6,967 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Avista by 26.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 283,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,857,000 after buying an additional 58,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Avista in the 1st quarter valued at about $134,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

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.