Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stock Position in Avista Corporation $AVA

Bank of New York Mellon Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 909,884 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,352 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 1.10% of Avista worth $36,523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 28.1% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 36,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,449,000 after buying an additional 7,922 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Avista by 2,942.7% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 21,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $865,000 after acquiring an additional 20,834 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Avista by 4.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. lifted its holdings in Avista by 56.7% in the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 32,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 11,706 shares during the period. Finally, Kiley Juergens Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the first quarter valued at $223,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value of $65,281.14. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,150.58. This represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Avista from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 target price on shares of Avista in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of AVA stock opened at $42.02 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.93 and a beta of 0.25. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $35.50 and a 1 year high of $43.50.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. Avista had a return on equity of 7.65% and a net margin of 10.75%.The company had revenue of $570.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.55 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue was down 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.4925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 78.49%.

About Avista

Avista Corporation operates as an integrated energy company providing electric and natural gas delivery services to residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Pacific Northwest. Through its regulated utility operations, the company maintains and upgrades an extensive transmission and distribution network, delivering reliable energy to approximately 400,000 electric customers and 324,000 natural gas customers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. In addition to its core utility business, Avista invests in owned generation assets, including hydroelectric, natural gas–fired, coal and wind facilities, to support system reliability and long-term supply planning.

Founded in 1889 as the Spokane and Inland Empire Water Power Company, the business adopted the Avista name in 1999 to reflect its growing energy portfolio and strategic focus on innovation.