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

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during 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 trading volume of 514,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days.

Avista Price Performance

NYSE AVA opened at $37.43 on Thursday. Avista has a 12 month low of $32.70 and a 12 month high of $39.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.55.

Avista Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 26th. This is a positive change from Avista’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 75.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,139,000. Demars Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Avista by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,260,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $375,855,000 after buying an additional 327,535 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Avista by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,283,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $47,016,000 after buying an additional 274,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC acquired a new position in Avista in the third quarter worth approximately $10,076,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.