Renaissance Technologies LLC Cuts Stake in Avista Corporation $AVA

Renaissance Technologies LLC lessened its position in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 31.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 147,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 68,900 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.18% of Avista worth $5,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,382,000 after purchasing an additional 98,220 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Avista by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,465,000 after purchasing an additional 45,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,550,000 after buying an additional 7,793 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,657,000 after buying an additional 257,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,860,000 after buying an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $38.83 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a PE ratio of 14.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.25. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.50 and a 1 year high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. 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 company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price target on Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.25.

Avista Profile

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.