Avista (NYSE:AVA) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Avista (NYSE:AVA) to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

AVA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Avista presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Avista Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.39. Avista has a fifty-two week low of $34.80 and a fifty-two week high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.09.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.11). Avista had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 9.13%.The company had revenue of $400.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.1%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 88.29%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,367 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.72, for a total value of $50,196.24. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $308,227.68. The trade was a 14.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Bryan Alden Cox purchased 3,671 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.55 per share, for a total transaction of $130,504.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,989 shares in the company, valued at $355,108.95. This trade represents a 58.10% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of AVA. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Avista by 8,255.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,117,000 after acquiring an additional 498,318 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 983.2% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 98,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after purchasing an additional 89,542 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Avista by 48.5% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 35,188 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after acquiring an additional 11,489 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 39.2% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 243,046 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,176,000 after acquiring an additional 68,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the first quarter valued at $790,000. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.