Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,950,000 shares, an increase of 8.1% from the December 31st total of 2,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 498,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $879,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 38.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 34,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,190,000 after buying an additional 9,552 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 5.8% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after buying an additional 2,385 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $613,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at $427,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Avista stock opened at $36.76 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.64, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $36.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.71. Avista has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The business had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Avista will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group dropped 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.

About Avista

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.