Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Down 7.3% in September

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,410,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the September 15th total of 2,600,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 502,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Avista Stock Performance

NYSE AVA traded down $0.53 on Thursday, hitting $38.00. 89,713 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 518,378. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $38.29 and its 200 day moving average is $36.84. Avista has a 52 week low of $31.09 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in Avista by 18.7% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 13,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 68.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 47,118 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,826,000 after acquiring an additional 19,177 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,139,000. SPC Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 19.6% during the second quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 11,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Avista by 33.2% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 49,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 12,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America began coverage on Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock.

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.