Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP James M. Kensok Sells 700 Shares of Stock

Avista Co. (NYSE:AVA) VP James M. Kensok sold 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.75, for a total value of $24,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,574 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,946.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Avista Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:AVA traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $34.77. The company had a trading volume of 20,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 765,352. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.94. Avista Co. has a 1-year low of $30.53 and a 1-year high of $45.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.94.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.08. Avista had a return on equity of 6.93% and a net margin of 9.46%. The business had revenue of $369.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $354.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. Avista’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Avista Co. will post 2.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.46 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.29%. Avista’s payout ratio is presently 83.64%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in Avista by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 39,800 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $298,000. Ethic Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 1st quarter worth about $572,000. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Avista during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,122,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Avista by 156.1% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. 78.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AVA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Avista from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 25th. StockNews.com lowered Avista from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. TheStreet lowered Avista from a “b” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Avista from $36.00 to $33.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on Avista from $33.00 to $26.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th.

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.