Jefferies Financial Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Avista (NYSE:AVA) Stock Price

Avista (NYSE:AVA) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $40.00 to $39.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 8.04% from the company’s previous close.

Avista Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE AVA opened at $36.10 on Tuesday. 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 has a 52 week low of $31.91 and a 52 week high of $39.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.70. The firm has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $383.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.29 million. Avista had a net margin of 10.24% and a return on equity of 7.83%. Avista’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Avista

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,076,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Avista during the second quarter worth $5,638,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the third quarter valued at $5,838,000. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,963,000. Finally, Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,725,000. 85.24% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.