KeyCorp Weighs in on Avista Co.’s FY2022 Earnings (NYSE:AVA)

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) – Analysts at KeyCorp increased their FY2022 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Avista in a report issued on Tuesday, April 19th. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.00 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $1.99.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AVA. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, March 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Monday, December 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Avista presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.50.

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $44.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $44.60 and its 200-day moving average is $42.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.59. Avista has a twelve month low of $37.73 and a twelve month high of $47.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $418.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $431.18 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 7.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Peregrine Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $10,961,000. Americana Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at about $349,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in Avista by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 1,293,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,614,000 after buying an additional 66,027 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at about $605,000. Finally, Apella Capital LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter valued at about $818,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.31% of the company’s stock.

In other news, Chairman Scott L. Morris sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.49, for a total transaction of $400,410.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,381 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.29, for a total transaction of $105,454.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,481 shares of company stock worth $692,691 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 17th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. Avista’s payout ratio is 84.21%.

Avista Company Profile (Get Rating)

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.

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