Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Down 6.0% in June

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, a decrease of 6.0% from the May 31st total of 2,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 445,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AVA has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avista has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total value of $61,557.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $401,387.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $61,557.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $401,387.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,916 shares of company stock valued at $215,268. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,772,000 after purchasing an additional 33,431 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,539,985 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,519,000 after buying an additional 26,454 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after acquiring an additional 174,951 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Avista by 13.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,820,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $58,944,000 after acquiring an additional 212,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,051,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,597,000 after purchasing an additional 55,697 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Avista Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AVA stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.88. 201,174 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 538,593. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.96. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $30.53 and a fifty-two week high of $40.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $469.34 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. Avista’s revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 earnings per share.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.84%.

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.