Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Update

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,950,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the December 15th total of 2,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 498,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Avista by 202.2% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 57,617 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 38,550 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Avista by 9.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 420,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,295,000 after purchasing an additional 34,829 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $70,857,000 after buying an additional 27,328 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,638,000. Finally, A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,340,000. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:AVA traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $37.27. 434,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 494,163. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.61. Avista has a one year low of $31.91 and a one year high of $39.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Avista will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 75.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Avista in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Avista presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.75.

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.