Insider Selling: Avista (NYSE:AVA) SVP Sells 1,785 Shares of Stock

Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA) SVP Wayne Manuel sold 1,785 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.74, for a total transaction of $69,150.90. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $382,867.42. The trade was a 15.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Avista Stock Down 1.1%

NYSE AVA traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.35. 108,906 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 702,254. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.03. The stock has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.30. Avista Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.80 and a 1 year high of $43.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Avista (NYSE:AVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.09. Avista had a return on equity of 7.18% and a net margin of 9.62%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 EPS. Avista has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.520-2.720 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Avista Corporation will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Avista Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were given a $0.49 dividend. This represents a $1.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. Avista’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on AVA. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Avista from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Avista to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Mizuho set a $42.00 target price on shares of Avista in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Avista in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Avista

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Avista by 531.2% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,370,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,383,000 after buying an additional 1,153,389 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Avista by 359.4% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,282,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003,362 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Avista in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,674,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in Avista by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,110,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $80,101,000 after purchasing an additional 728,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in Avista by 8,255.8% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 504,354 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 498,318 shares during the last quarter. 85.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.