Avista (NYSE:AVA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.17 and last traded at $39.89, with a volume of 184620 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $38.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th.

Avista Stock Up 4.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by ($0.02). Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a $0.49 dividend. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.92%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Avista during the 4th quarter valued at $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista during the 4th quarter worth about $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Avista by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,076,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Avista Company Profile

Avista Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an electric and natural gas utility company. It operates in two segments, Avista Utilities and AEL&P. The Avista Utilities segment provides electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington and northern Idaho; and natural gas distribution services in parts of northeastern and southwestern Oregon, as well as generates electricity in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana.