Brokerages Set Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Target Price at $39.25

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AVA shares. Barclays lowered their price target 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 lowered Avista from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th.

Avista Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Avista stock opened at $36.16 on Friday. Avista has a 1 year low of $36.10 and a 1 year high of $43.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.25.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.20. Avista had a return on equity of 7.85% and a net margin of 11.83%.The company had revenue of $413.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $426.93 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Avista

In related news, VP Joshua Diluciano sold 4,675 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.24, for a total transaction of $174,097.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,358.16. The trade was a 35.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Avista during the second quarter valued at approximately $605,448,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Avista by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,550,000 after acquiring an additional 7,793 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Avista by 0.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $60,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,919,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $30,262,000 after purchasing an additional 100,918 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

Avista Corporation is an energy company headquartered in Spokane, Washington, operating primarily through its regulated utility businesses. Its principal subsidiary, Avista Utilities, provides electric and natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

Avista Utilities operates electric and natural gas systems in eastern Washington and northern Idaho, as well as parts of Oregon. Through Alaska Electric Light & Power Company, Avista also provides electric service in Juneau, Alaska.