Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Avista Corporation $AVA

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 98,220 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of Avista worth $421,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Avista by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,032,000 after acquiring an additional 398,446 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,506,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $56,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,567 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 359.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,362 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Avista by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,084,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,989,000 after acquiring an additional 117,385 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Avista by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 922,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,866,000 after acquiring an additional 37,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their target price on Avista from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research downgraded Avista from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Mizuho upped their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Avista presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total transaction of $71,038.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 8,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,552.18. This represents a 17.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $40.55 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $40.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.56. Avista Corporation has a 1-year low of $35.50 and a 1-year high of $43.50. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 0.24.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 10.75%.The company had revenue of $555.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.98 EPS. Avista’s revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.4925 per share. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.49%.

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.