Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,800,000 shares, a decline of 6.0% from the May 31st total of 2,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 445,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total transaction of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $256,897.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Avista news, VP Latisha Diane Hill sold 1,700 shares of Avista stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.21, for a total transaction of $61,557.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $401,387.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,716 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.70, for a total value of $61,261.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,897.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,916 shares of company stock worth $215,268. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Avista by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 36,063 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,289,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its holdings in Avista by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 84,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,030,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 38,242 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,036 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AVA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $32.00 to $36.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Avista has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 201,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,593. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $30.53 and a fifty-two week high of $40.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.96.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.00 by ($0.09). Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 9.96%. The business had revenue of $594.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $469.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

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.