Short Interest in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Increases By 11.0%

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,530,000 shares, a growth of 11.0% from the October 31st total of 2,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 476,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Avista Price Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $38.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.15, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.34. Avista has a 1 year low of $31.91 and a 1 year high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The company had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Institutional Trading of Avista

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth about $155,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at about $200,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Avista by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,828,230 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $70,857,000 after acquiring an additional 27,328 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 290.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 137,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,325,000 after acquiring an additional 102,231 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 13.8% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 57,320 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,221,000 after acquiring an additional 6,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Bank of America initiated coverage on Avista in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company.

About Avista

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.