Avista (NYSE:AVA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Avista (NYSE:AVA) in a report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $40.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock.

Separately, Bank of America assumed coverage on Avista in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.75.

Avista Stock Performance

AVA opened at $37.41 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.33. Avista has a 52-week low of $31.91 and a 52-week high of $39.99. The company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.10. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. The firm had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. Avista’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Avista Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.08%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Avista

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Avista during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the second quarter valued at about $40,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in Avista by 46.9% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Avista by 256.6% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,714 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the period. 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.