Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Short Interest Down 5.8% in January

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,770,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the January 15th total of 2,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 514,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Avista Price Performance

NYSE:AVA opened at $37.08 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Avista has a 52 week low of $32.70 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

Avista Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.49 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a boost from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AVA. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 2,474.1% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 117.8% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Avista by 296.7% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.