Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Receives $39.25 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

AVA has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. 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. Finally, Zacks Research raised Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Avista by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Avista by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Avista by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $718,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $37.73 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.25. Avista has a twelve month low of $35.50 and a twelve month high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The business had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Avista will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.2%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is 71.12%.

About Avista

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.