Key Points
- SVP Wayne Manuel sold 1,785 shares of Avista at an average price of $38.74 (totaling $69,150.90), leaving him with 9,883 shares — a 15.30% reduction in his ownership.
- Avista beat the quarter with EPS of $0.36 (vs. $0.27 expected) and revenue up 2.6% year-over-year, and set FY2025 guidance of 2.520–2.720 EPS versus sell-side consensus of about 2.3 EPS.
- The company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.49 (annualized $1.96), implying a 5.1% yield with a payout ratio of 83.4%, indicating a high yield but elevated payout coverage.
Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) SVP Wayne Manuel sold 1,785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $69,150.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,883 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $382,867.42. This represents a 15.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.
Avista Price Performance
AVA opened at $38.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.30. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.03. Avista Corporation has a one year low of $34.80 and a one year high of $43.09.
Avista (NYSE:AVA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 7.18%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Avista Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Avista's dividend payout ratio is 83.40%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently commented on AVA shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Avista in a research report on Monday. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of Avista in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Avista to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $40.33.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on AVA
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Avista by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,835,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $409,687,000 after purchasing an additional 170,388 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Avista by 8.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,191,896 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $197,032,000 after purchasing an additional 398,446 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Avista by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $80,101,000 after buying an additional 728,543 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Avista by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,958,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $74,316,000 after buying an additional 46,321 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Avista by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,506,699 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $56,967,000 after buying an additional 6,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.24% of the company's stock.
About Avista
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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