Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Update

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the August 31st total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 527,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.65. The company had a trading volume of 368,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,495. Avista has a 52 week low of $30.53 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.54.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Avista will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.92%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Avista by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $334,772,000 after purchasing an additional 33,431 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $122,916,000 after acquiring an additional 13,445 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $66,701,000 after acquiring an additional 174,951 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Avista by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,103,000 after acquiring an additional 61,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 95.4% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.