Avista (NYSE:AVA) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Bank of America

Bank of America began coverage on shares of Avista (NYSE:AVA) in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an underperform rating and a $37.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock.

Avista Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA opened at $37.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.09. Avista has a one year low of $30.53 and a one year high of $39.99.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. Avista had a net margin of 10.12% and a return on equity of 7.77%. The business had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $386.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Avista’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.42 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth $27,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Avista by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Avista in the first quarter worth approximately $73,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s 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.