Short Interest in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Grows By 8.1%

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVAGet Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,950,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the December 31st total of 2,730,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 498,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AVA

Avista Price Performance

AVA stock opened at $36.36 on Tuesday. Avista has a 12-month low of $31.91 and a 12-month high of $39.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $36.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVAGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $383.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.83% and a net margin of 10.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Avista will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.23%. Avista’s payout ratio is 75.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 296.7% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Avista by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,723 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Avista by 309.3% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392 shares during the period. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Avista

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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.

Further Reading

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