Truist Financial Corp Decreases Position in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA)

Truist Financial Corp decreased its stake in Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) by 42.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,439 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Avista were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC purchased a new position in Avista during the second quarter worth $39,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Avista by 178.0% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Avista during the 2nd quarter valued at about $83,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Avista by 913.0% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,036 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Avista by 22.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.92% of the company’s stock.

Avista Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $41.20 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $42.12 and its 200 day moving average is $41.11. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.53. Avista Co. has a 52-week low of $35.72 and a 52-week high of $46.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $359.45 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $310.23 million. Avista had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 7.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 18th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Avista’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AVA shares. StockNews.com upgraded Avista from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. KeyCorp lowered Avista from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Avista from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 13th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Avista from $34.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Monday, October 24th.

About Avista

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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.