Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Update

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity at Avista

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The trade was a 30.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Avista by 6.8% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Avista by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,330 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,836 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Avista Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.27. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.47. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $31.91 and a fifty-two week high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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 paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.