Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Raises Holdings in Avista Corporation $AVA

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 150,606 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,781 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Avista were worth $5,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,360,222 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $433,782,000 after purchasing an additional 99,365 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 52.7% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $80,101,000 after buying an additional 728,543 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 2.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,958,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $74,316,000 after buying an additional 46,321 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Avista by 531.2% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $57,383,000 after buying an additional 1,153,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Avista by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,266,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,042,000 after acquiring an additional 13,545 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on Avista in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Avista to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox bought 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $35.55 per share, with a total value of $130,504.05. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president directly owned 9,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $355,108.95. This represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total transaction of $50,196.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $308,227.68. This represents a 14.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $41.47 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Avista Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.80 and a twelve month high of $43.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $38.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.96.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.40%.

Avista Company Profile

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.