29,747 Shares in Avista Corporation $AVA Purchased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 29,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,146,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AVA. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Avista by 359.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003,362 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Avista by 1,723.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 442,427 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $16,728,000 after purchasing an additional 418,170 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Avista by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $197,032,000 after purchasing an additional 398,446 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Avista by 216.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 477,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,044,000 after purchasing an additional 326,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,014,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AVA shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Avista from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price objective on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Avista in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Avista from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Avista Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $40.79 on Wednesday. Avista Corporation has a 12 month low of $35.50 and a 12 month high of $43.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.24.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $555.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $643.55 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.98 EPS. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Avista Corporation will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.4925 dividend. This represents a $1.97 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Bryan Alden Cox sold 1,768 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.18, for a total value of $71,038.24. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 8,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $337,552.18. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total transaction of $65,281.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,521 shares in the company, valued at $431,150.58. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,916 shares of company stock worth $158,408 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.78% of the company’s stock.

Avista 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.