Grace & White Inc. NY Invests $1.89 Million in Avista Corporation $AVA

Grace & White Inc. NY purchased a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 50,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,894,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Convergence Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Avista by 0.6% during the second quarter. Convergence Investment Partners LLC now owns 49,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,883,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 3.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 8,226 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Avista by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 85,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,236,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Avista by 54.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on AVA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on Avista in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Avista to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.33.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,785 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $69,150.90. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,867.42. This represents a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.96% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $39.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.14. Avista Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.80 and a 52-week high of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.30.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 9.62%.Avista’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Research analysts predict that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 83.40%.

Avista Company Profile

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.