Avista (NYSE:AVA) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $43.14 and last traded at $43.1050, with a volume of 117257 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AVA. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Avista from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Avista from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on Avista in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Avista presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.33.

Avista Stock Up 1.6%

The firm has a market cap of $3.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.60.

Avista Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 25th will be issued a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 25th. This is an increase from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. Avista’s payout ratio is 83.83%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,669,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 8.0% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 519,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $19,659,000 after purchasing an additional 38,651 shares during the period. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,118,000. Nuance Investments LLC increased its stake in Avista by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 288,203 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,897,000 after buying an additional 96,532 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Avista during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,745,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.