What is KeyCorp’s Forecast for Avista FY2024 Earnings?

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) – Research analysts at KeyCorp lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for Avista in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $2.43 for the year, up from their previous estimate of $2.42. The consensus estimate for Avista’s current full-year earnings is $2.40 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Avista’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.04 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.01 EPS.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $390.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $386.69 million. Avista had a return on equity of 7.77% and a net margin of 10.12%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.23 earnings per share.

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

Avista Price Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $37.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.88. Avista has a 52-week low of $31.54 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.99. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 0.47.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.03%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David J. Meyer sold 2,400 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $208,307.52. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.96% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Avista by 44.2% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 269,120 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,425,000 after buying an additional 82,500 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Avista by 140.8% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 92,319 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 53,983 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 109.6% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 34,015 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 17,784 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Avista by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 188,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,588,000 after acquiring an additional 68,441 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 383.0% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 27,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 22,156 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently 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.