Short Interest in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) Drops By 9.7%

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the target of a large drop in short interest in 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 trading volume of 527,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Avista Price Performance

Shares of AVA stock traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $38.72. The company had a trading volume of 352,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 531,725. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $38.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.49. Avista has a 52-week low of $30.53 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.47. 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 (NYSE:AVA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $390.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Avista’s payout ratio is 78.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Avista

In other Avista news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.32, for a total value of $91,968.00. Following the completion of 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.96% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AVA. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,559,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $334,772,000 after acquiring an additional 33,431 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in Avista by 0.4% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 3,551,460 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $122,916,000 after purchasing an additional 13,445 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 10.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,904,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 174,951 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Avista by 4.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,534,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,103,000 after purchasing an additional 61,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 95.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 709,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,365,000 after buying an additional 346,540 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

About Avista

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.