Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.49

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 24th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share by the utilities provider on Monday, December 14th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 24th.

Avista has a payout ratio of 71.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Avista to earn $2.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.97 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 72.7%.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of Avista stock opened at $40.31 on Thursday. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $34.46 and a fifty-two week high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.53, a P/E/G ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.22. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.71.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The utilities provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.04). Avista had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 12.75%. The company had revenue of $421.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $425.52 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AVA. Weiss Ratings downgraded Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Avista from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.75.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation is an energy company whose principal business is providing regulated electric and natural gas service through Avista Utilities. Its operations include generating, transmitting and distributing electricity, as well as distributing natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Avista serves communities in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, along with parts of Oregon. The company also owns Alaska Electric Light and Power, which provides electric service in Juneau and nearby communities.