Short Interest in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Drops By 9.7%

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the August 31st total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 527,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Insider Activity at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AVA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Avista in the 4th quarter worth about $18,988,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Avista by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Avista in the second quarter worth approximately $7,130,000. Peregrine Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,506,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after buying an additional 174,951 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Avista Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Avista stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.66. The company had a trading volume of 368,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,495. Avista has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $38.55 and a 200 day moving average of $36.54.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Avista will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock.

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.