Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.00.

AVA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Avista from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Avista from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $39.00 price objective on Avista in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, SVP Wayne O. Manuel sold 1,593 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.98, for a total value 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 represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.78% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Avista by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $421,382,000 after acquiring an additional 98,220 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,305,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $204,465,000 after acquiring an additional 45,696 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,985,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,550,000 after acquiring an additional 7,793 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Avista by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,807,397 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,657,000 after purchasing an additional 257,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Avista by 0.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,516,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $60,860,000 after purchasing an additional 4,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $41.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.12 and a 200 day moving average of $40.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.25. Avista has a 12-month low of $35.50 and a 12-month high of $43.50.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $570.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $643.55 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.75% and a return on equity of 7.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. Avista has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

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

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.