StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Avista (NYSE:AVA)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) in a report released on Thursday. The firm set a “sell” rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on AVA. TheStreet upgraded Avista from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho lowered Avista from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 9th.

Avista Trading Up 0.1 %

Avista stock opened at $41.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Avista has a 12 month low of $35.72 and a 12 month high of $46.60. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.66. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.49.

Avista (NYSE:AVA – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.33. Avista had a return on equity of 6.87% and a net margin of 9.14%. The business had revenue of $496.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $371.59 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Avista will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Bryan Alden Cox sold 2,542 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.30, for a total transaction of $104,984.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 4,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $194,027.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.94% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AVA. Delta Asset Management LLC TN acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 377.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 830 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Avista by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 986 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.92% of the company’s stock.

Avista Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Avista Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of electric and natural gas utility business. It operates through the Avista Utilities, and Alaska Electric Light and Power Company (AEL&P) segments. The Avista Utilities segment includes electric distribution and transmission, and natural gas distribution services in parts of eastern Washington, Northern Idaho, and Northeastern and Southwestern Oregon.