Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Stock Has Average Price Target of $38.75

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.75.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AVA shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Avista from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th.

Avista Stock Up 1.5%

AVA stock opened at $36.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.23. Avista has a 12 month low of $34.46 and a 12 month high of $43.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $426.93 million. Avista had a net margin of 11.83% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The company’s revenue was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 18th were paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 18th. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 71.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Avista news, VP Joshua Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $174,097.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,358.16. This represents a 35.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Avista during the second quarter worth approximately $605,448,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,919,000. Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 15.8% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 739,725 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,262,000 after acquiring an additional 100,918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of Avista by 8.4% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 549,732 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $22,066,000 after purchasing an additional 42,428 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

Avista Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Spokane, Washington. Through its Avista Utilities subsidiary, the company generates, transmits and distributes electricity and provides natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Avista Utilities serves communities in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, with natural gas operations also extending into parts of Oregon. The company’s energy portfolio includes hydroelectric, thermal and renewable generation resources, supported by transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Avista also operates Alaska Electric Light & Power Company, which provides electric service to customers in Juneau, Alaska.