91,421 Shares in Avista Corporation $AVA Purchased by Deutsche Bank AG

Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 91,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,740,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AVA. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 90.7% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Bayban acquired a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth $43,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AVA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.25.

Avista Stock Down 0.4%

AVA stock opened at $37.77 on Wednesday. Avista Corporation has a one year low of $35.50 and a one year high of $43.50. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.64, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $413.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 18th. This represents a $1.97 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.2%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.12%.

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.