Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $0.22 Per Share, KeyCorp Forecasts

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) – Research analysts at KeyCorp issued their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Avista in a research note issued to investors on Sunday, July 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.22 for the quarter. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Avista’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.09 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $1.19 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.03 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AVA. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Mizuho upgraded Avista from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Avista currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.00.

Avista Price Performance

Avista stock opened at $39.32 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $35.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.01. Avista has a one year low of $30.53 and a one year high of $39.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in Avista by 67.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. Strs Ohio raised its stake in Avista by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 2,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 1st quarter worth approximately $73,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Avista Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 23rd were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.83%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.