Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Down 9.7% in September

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the August 31st total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 527,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Price Performance

Shares of NYSE AVA traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 368,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 530,495. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.60. Avista has a 52 week low of $30.53 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $386.69 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. Avista’s payout ratio is currently 78.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of Avista stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total transaction of $91,968.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Avista by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,772,000 after buying an additional 33,431 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Avista by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,916,000 after acquiring an additional 13,445 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 10.1% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 4.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 61,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Avista by 95.4% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,365,000 after purchasing an additional 346,540 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.