Avista (NYSE:AVA) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Avista (NYSE:AVA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

AVA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Avista from $35.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Avista from $38.00 to $36.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. KeyCorp raised shares of Avista from an underweight rating to a sector weight rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Avista from a b rating to a c rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th.

Avista Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA opened at $34.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.51. Avista has a 12-month low of $32.27 and a 12-month high of $45.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.81.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $379.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $398.20 million. Avista had a net margin of 8.38% and a return on equity of 6.18%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Avista will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. Avista’s payout ratio is 95.34%.

Insider Transactions at Avista

In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total transaction of $38,745.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $211,326.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP David J. Meyer sold 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.90, for a total transaction of $38,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,727 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $211,326.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Scott L. Morris purchased 3,100 shares of Avista stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $32.39 per share, for a total transaction of $100,409.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 128,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,151,393.91. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.00% 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. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in Avista in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $22,450,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in Avista by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 22,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $871,000 after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its position in Avista by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 23,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $931,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Avista by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 447,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $17,557,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

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.