Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Position in Avista Corporation $AVA

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) by 2,942.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,834 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Avista were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its position in Avista by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 10,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in Avista by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 7,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Avista by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $88,000 after buying an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Avista by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 18,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AVA. Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Avista from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen raised Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Avista from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Avista Price Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $42.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Avista Corporation has a 52 week low of $35.50 and a 52 week high of $43.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.25.

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

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total transaction of $65,281.14. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,521 shares in the company, valued at $431,150.58. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.78% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Avista Company Profile

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.